Antibody containing igg2 having amino acid mutation introduced therein

ABSTRACT

The present invention can provide a monoclonal antibody which comprises a heavy chain constant region which is IgG2 wherein valine at position 234, glutamine at position 237 and proline at position 331 are at least substituted with alanine, alanine and serine, respectively (numbering is based on the EU index of Kabat et al); has an agonist activity; and binds to human CD40.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a monoclonal antibody which binds tohuman CD40, comprises a heavy chain constant region which is IgG2 inwhich valine at position 234, glutamine at position 237 and proline atposition 331 are at least substituted with alanine, alanine and proline,respectively, (numbering is based on the EU index of Kabat et al.), andhas an agonist activity; a DNA which encodes the monoclonal antibody; avector which comprises the DNA; a transformant obtainable by introducingthe vector; a process for producing the monoclonal antibody using thetransformant; and a pharmaceutical composition and a therapeutic agentcomprising the monoclonal antibody.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. CD40

CD40 is an antigen which has a molecular weight of 50 kDa and is presenton the surface of cell membrane, and expressed in B cells, dendriticcells (DCs), some types of cancer cells, and thymic epithelial cells.CD40 is known to play an important role in proliferation anddifferentiation of B cells and DCs. CD40 was identified as an antigenexpressed on the surface of human B cells (Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2)and has been considered as a member of the TNF receptor family to whichlow-affinity NGF receptors, TNF receptors, CD27, OX40, CD30 and the likebelongs. A ligand (CD40L) to human and murine CD40s has been found to bea type II membrane proteins expressed in activated CD4+ T cells. CD40Lhas been also found to introduce strong signals for activation intohuman or murine B cells.

It is considered that the expression of CD40 in DC is higher than thatin B cell and it has become clear that CD40 plays an important role.Binding of CD40 to CD40L activates an antigen presenting cell (APC).Namely, it activates the expression of costimulator molecules such asCD80 (B7-1) and CD86 (B7-2) or enhances the production of IL-2(Non-Patent Documents 3 and 4). DC has a strong antigen-presentingactivity and a strong capacity to activate helper T (Th) cells. DC isalso considered to control differentiation of naive Th cells into Th1 orTh2 cells. When peripheral blood monocytes which are myeloid dendriticcells are cultured in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4, and matured byCD40L, the resulting matured dendritic cells (DC1) can produce IL-12 invitro, and stimulate and activate allogeneic naive Th cells to induceIFNγ-producing T cells (i.e., to promote their differentiation intoTh1). This function is inhibited by anti-IL-12 antibody and hence may bea reaction mediated by IL-12. On the other hand, when plasmacytoid Tcells which are present in lymphoid T regions and peripheral blood arecultured in the presence of IL-3 and CD40L, the resulting lymphoiddendritic cells (DC2) are shown to be unable to produce IL-12, andstimulate and activate allogeneic naive Th cells to induceIL-4-producing T cells, which indicates promotion of theirdifferentiation into Th2. It is considered that Th1 cells are involvedin activation of cellular immunity, while Th2 cells are associated withenhancement of humoral immunity as well as restriction of cellularimmunity. When cytotoxic T cells (CTL) are activated with the help ofTh1 cells, they may eliminate pathogens (various virus, listeria,tuberculosis bacteria, toxoplasma protozoa, etc.) growing in thecytoplasm and tumor cells.

The monoclonal anti-CD40 antibody which recognizes CD40 expressed on themembrane surface has been demonstrated to have different biologicalactivities to B cells. The monoclonal anti-CD40 antibody is generallyclassified into agonistic substance (antagonistic antibody) orantagonistic substance (antagonistic antibody) against CD40.

2. Agonistic Antibodies

As function of an agonistic antibody, the activation of B cells isknown. For example, the anti-CD40 antibody has been reported to inducecell adhesion (Non-Patent Documents 5 and 6), increase cell size(Non-Patent Documents 6 and 7), induce cell division of B cellsactivated only by an anti-IgM antibody, anti-CD20 antibody or phorbolester (Non-Patent Documents 8 to 10), induce cell division of B cells inthe presence of IL-4 (Non-Patent Documents 7 and 11), induce expressionof IgE by cultured cells stimulated with IL-4 and deprived of T cells(Non-Patent Documents 12 and 13), induce expression of IgG and IgM bythose cultured cells (Non-Patent Documents 13), secrete solubleCD23/FceRII from cells due to IL-4 (Non-Patent Documents 14 and 15),enhance expression of soluble CD23/FceRII on the cells due to IL-4(Non-Patent Documents 16), and promote IL-6 production (Non-PatentDocument 17).

Furthermore, it has been reported that addition of IL-4 and an anti-CD40antibody to human primary culture B cells in the presence of CDw32+adhesive cells led to establishment of cloned B cells derived therefrom(Non-Patent Document 18), and apoptosis of germinal center cells wasinhibited by CD40 regardless of whether its antigen receptor was activeor inactive (Non-Patent Document 19). As described above, since CD40 hasbeen identified as antigen expressed on the surface of human B cells,most of the isolated antibodies have been mainly evaluated by theirinduction potency for proliferation and/or differentiation of human Bcells or their induction activity for cell death of cancer cells, as anindex (Non-Patent Documents 20, 21 and 22).

In addition, the anti-CD40 antibody has been demonstrated to mature DC(Non-Patent Document 23). Furthermore, the role of CD4 T cells inpriming antigen-specific CD8 T cells has been reported to be theactivation of DC via CD40-CD40L signaling, and the anti-CD40 monoclonalantibody (mAb) has been found to be able to substitute CD40 helper Tcells in activation of DC (Non-Patent Document 24). Also, administrationof an anti-CD40 antibody in mice has been found to be able to protectthe animal body from CD40-expressing tumor cells as well asCD40-non-expressing tumor cells (Non-Patent Document 25).

An anti-CD40 antibody having an agonist activity is expected to beeffective for treatment of infectious diseases due to such as bacteriaand virus; malignancy; and the like, based on their functions describedabove.

As an anti-CD40 antibody having an agonist activity, the antibodyKM341-1-19 is disclosed in Patent Document 1. The hybridoma KM341-1-19producing the antibody KM341-1-19 (Accession Number: FERM BP-7759) wasdeposited on 27, Sep. 2001 for international deposit under the BudapestTreaty, to International Patent Organisms Depositary, National Instituteof Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (central 6, 1-1, Higashi1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan). The heavy chain constant region of theantibody KM341-1-19 and the antibody 341G2Ser having a heavy chainconstant region which is IgG2 in which proline at position 331 issubstituted with serine (this substitution is represented as P331S;hereinafter, represented as the same; numbering is based on the EU indexof Non-Patent Document 26) are disclosed in Patent Document 2.

The anti-CD40 antibody 21.4.1 having an agonist activity is disclosed inPatent Document 3.

3. Mutation of Amino Acid

It has been reported that a region at positions 233-299 of a lower hingeregion of IgG (numbering is based on the EU index of Kabat et al.) isone of the binding regions to an Fcγ receptor, which is a member ofimmunoglobulin Fc receptor (Non-Patent Document 27). The immunoglobulinFc receptor plays an important role in antibody-mediated immuneresponse. Specifically, it includes phagocytosis, ADCC activity(Non-Patent Documents 28 and 29) and the like. The Fcγ receptor isexpressed on surfaces of leukocytes, and is divided into three classesof FcγRI (CD64), FcγRII (CD32), and FcγRIII (CD16). Further, FcγRII issubdivided into FcγRIIA and FcγRIIB, and FcγRIII is subdivided intoFcγRIIIA and FcγRIIIB.

It has been reported that binding of an Fcγ receptor is lowered bysubstituting a lower hinge region of IgG1 with IgG2 which is a subclasshaving a weak effector function activity of an antibody through an Fcγreceptor. Specifically, examples of E233P, L234V, L235A, deletion ofG236 and the like (numbering is based on the EU index of Kabat et al.(Non-Patent Documents 30 to 33). As discussed above, it is known that aneffector function activity of an antibody through an Fey receptor isweak for an antibody having IgG2 as a subclass, and it has been reportedthat lysis of a target cell by an effector cell can be further inhibitedby the substitution of V234A and G237A (numbering is based on the EUindex of Kabat et al.) (Non-Patent Document 34). However, the effects ofV234A and G237A on the agonist activity of an anti-CD40 antibody are notdisclosed. Alternatively, the effects of V234A and G237A in IgG2subclass on the blood kinetics of an anti-CD40 antibody are notdisclosed. Still further, the effects of V234A and G237A in IgG2subclass of an anti-CD40 antibody on the liver are not disclosed.

For example, L235, D265, D270, K322, P331 and P329 (numbering is basedon the EU index of Kabat et al.) have been considered to play animportant role in the complement-activating capacity of human lgG andthe CDC activity can be reduced by substituting these sites with otheramino acids (Non-Patent Documents 35 to 40). Specifically, the reductionin CDC activity can be achieved by substituting D270, K322, P329 and/orP331 with A. Alternatively, the reduction in CDC activity can beachieved by substituting P331 with S or G.

CITATION LIST Patent Document

-   Patent Document 1: WO02/088186-   Patent Document 2: WO2005/063981-   Patent Document 3: WO03/040170

Non-Patent Document

-   Non-Patent Document 1: E. A. Clark et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.    USA 83: 4494, 1986-   Non-Patent Document 2: I. Stamenkovic et al., EMBO J. 8: 1403, 1989-   Non-Patent Document 3: Caux, C., et al., J. Exp. Med., 180: 1263,    1994-   Non-Patent Document 4: Shu, U., et al., Eur J. Immunol., 25: 1125,    1995-   Non-Patent Document 5: Barrett et al., J. Immunol. 146: 1722, 1991-   Non-Patent Document 6: Gordon et al., J Immunol. 140: 1425, 1998-   Non-Patent Document 7: Valle et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 19: 1463, 1989-   Non-Patent Document 8: Clark and Ledbetter, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.    USA 83: 4494, 1986-   Non-Patent Document 9: Gordon et al., LEUCOCYTE TYPING III. A. J.    McMicheal ed. Oxford University Press. Oxford. p. 426-   Non-Patent Document 10: Paulie et al., J. Immunol. 142: 590, 1989-   Non-Patent Document 11: Gordon et al., Eur J. Immunol. 17: 1535,    1987-   Non-Patent Document 12: Jabara et al., J. Exp. Med. 172: 1861, 1990-   Non-Patent Document 13: Gascan et al., J. Immunol. 147: 8, 1991-   Non-Patent Document 14: Gordon and Guy, Immunol. Today 8: 39, 1987-   Non-Patent Document 15: Cairns et al., Eur J. Immunol. 18: 349, 1988-   Non-Patent Document 16: Challa, A., Allergy, 54: 576, 1999-   Non-Patent Document 17: Clark and Shu, J. Immunol. 145: 1400, 1990-   Non-Patent Document 18: Bancherauet et al., Science 241: 70, 1991-   Non-Patent Document 19: Liu et al., Nature 342: 929, 1989-   Non-Patent Document 20: Katira, A. et al., LEUKOCYTE TYPING V. S. F.    Schlossossman, et. al. eds. p. 547. Oxford University Press. Oxford-   Non-Patent Document 21: W. C. Flansow et al., LEUKOCYTE    TYPING V. S. F. Schlossossman, et al. eds. p. 555. Oxford University    Press. Oxford-   Non-Patent Document 22: J. D. Pound et al., International    Immunology, 11: 11, 1999-   Non-Patent Document 23: Z. H. Zhou et al., Hybridoma, 18: 471, 1999-   Non-Patent Document 24: Shoenberger, S. P., et al., Nature, 480,    1998-   Non-Patent Document 25: French, R. R., et al., Nature Medicine, 5,    1999-   Non-Patent Document 26: Kabat et. al., Sequences of proteins of    Immunological Interest, 1991 Fifth edition-   Non-Patent Document 27: Duncan, A. R. et al., Nature 332: 563-   Non-Patent Document 28: Gessner, J. E. et al., Ann. Hematol. 1998;    76: 231-   Non-Patent Document 29: Da'ron, M. et al., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 1997,    15: 203-   Non-Patent Document 30: Wines, B. D. et al., J. Immunol. 2000, 164:    5313-   Non-Patent Document 31: Lund, J. et al., Mol. Immunol. 1992, 29: 53-   Non-Patent Document 32: Sarmay. G et al., Mol. Immunol. 1992, 29:    633-   Non-Patent Document 33: Jefferis, R. et al., Mol. Immunol. 1990, 27:    1237-   Non-Patent Document 34: Michael, S., et al., J. Immunol., 1997, 159:    3613-   Non-Patent Document 35: Esohe E. Idusogie et al. J. Immunol. 2000,    164: 4178-4184-   Non-Patent Document 36: Yuanyuan Xu et al. J. Biol. Chem. 1994, 269:    3469-3474-   Non-Patent Document 37: Brekhe, O. H. et al. Eur J. Imumunol. 1994,    24: 2542-   Non-Patent Document 38: Morgan. A., et al., Immunology 1995, 86: 3    19-   Non-Patent Document 39: Lund. J., et al., J. Imununol., 1996, 157:    4963-   Non-Patent Document 40: Tao, M. H., et. al., J. Exp. Med 1993,    178:661

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem that the Invention is to Solve

An object of the present invention is to provide a monoclonal antibodywhich has an agonist activity and binds to human CD40; a DNA whichencodes the monoclonal antibody; a vector which contains the DNA; atransformant obtainable by introducing the vector; a process forproducing the monoclonal antibody using the transformant; and apharmaceutical composition and a therapeutic agent comprising themonoclonal antibody.

Means for Solving the Problem

The present inventors have constructed a monoclonal antibody(hereinafter referred to as “IgG2-AAS antibody”) which has a heavy chainconstant region which is IgG2 (hereinafter, referred to as “IgG2-AAS”)in which valine at position 234, glutamine at position 237 and prolineat position 331 are at least substituted with alanine (V234A), alanine(G237A) and serine (P331S), respectively, (numbering is based on the EUindex of Kabat et al) and binds to human CD40, and thus the presentinvention has been completed.

Namely, the present invention relates to the following:

(1) A monoclonal antibody which comprises a heavy chain constant regionwhich is IgG2, in which valine at position 234, glutamine at position237 and proline at position 331 are at least substituted with alanine,alanine and serine, respectively, (numbering is based on the EU index ofKabat et al); has an agonist activity; and binds to human CD40;(2) A monoclonal antibody which comprises the heavy chain constantregion represented by SEQ ID NO:30, has an agonist activity, and bindsto human CD40;(3) The monoclonal antibody according to the above (1) or (2), whichcomprises a heavy chain variable region comprising CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3represented by SEQ ID NOs:6, 8 and 10, respectively, and a light chainvariable region comprising CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 represented by SEQ IDNOs:16, 18 and 20, respectively;(4) The monoclonal antibody according to the above (1) or (2), whichcomprises the heavy chain variable region represented by SEQ ID NO:4,and the light chain variable region represented by SEQ ID NO:14;(5) The monoclonal antibody according to the above (1) or (2), whichcomprises a heavy chain variable region of an antibody produced by ahybridoma KM341-1-19 (FERM BP-7759) and a light chain variable region ofan antibody produced by a hybridoma KM341-1-19 (FERM BP-7759);(6) The monoclonal antibody according to the above (1) or (2), whichcompetes with an antibody produced by a hybridoma KM341-1-19 (FERMBP-7759);(7) The monoclonal antibody according to the above (1) or (2), whichbinds to a part or the entirety of an epitope on human CD40 to which anantibody produced by a hybridoma KM341-1-19 (FERM BP-7759) bind;(8) A DNA which encodes the monoclonal antibody according to any one ofthe above (1) to (7);(9) A recombinant vector which comprises the DNA according to the above(8);(10) A transformant obtainable by introducing the recombinant vectoraccording to the above (9) into a host cell;(11) A process for producing the monoclonal antibody according to anyone of the above (1) to (7), comprising culturing the transformantdescribed in the above (10) in a medium to form and accumulate themonoclonal antibody described in any one of the above (1) to (7) in theculture and recovering the monoclonal antibody from the culture;(12) The monoclonal antibody according to the above (1) or (2), whichcomprises a heavy chain constant region in which a signal is removedfrom the polypeptide represented by SEQ ID NO:2, and a light chainconstant region in which a signal is removed from the polypeptiderepresented by SEQ ID NO:12;(13) A recombinant vector comprising a DNA which encodes a polypeptidein which a signal is removed from the polypeptide represented by SEQ IDNO:2;(14) A recombinant vector comprising a DNA which encodes a polypeptidein which a signal is removed from the polypeptide represented by SEQ IDNO:12;(15) A recombinant vector comprising a DNA encoding a polypeptide inwhich a signal is removed from the polypeptide represented by SEQ IDNO:1, and a DNA encoding a polypeptide in which a signal is removed froma polypeptide represented by SEQ ID NO:11;(16) A transformant obtainable by introducing the recombinant vectorsaccording to the above (13) and (14) into a host cell;(17) A transformant obtainable by introducing the recombinant vectoraccording to the above (15) into a host cell;(18) A process for producing the monoclonal antibody described in theabove (12), comprising culturing the transformant described in the above(16) or (17) in a medium to form and accumulate the monoclonal antibodydescribed in the above (12) in the culture and thereby obtaining themonoclonal antibody from the culture;(19) A pharmaceutical composition comprising the monoclonal antibodyaccording to any one of the above (1) to (7) and (12) as an activeingredient;(20) A therapeutic agent for malignant tumors or infections, comprisingthe monoclonal antibody according to any one of the above (1) to (7) and(12) as an active ingredient;(21) Use of the monoclonal antibody according to any one of the above(1) to (7) and (12) for the manufacture of a therapeutic agent formalignant tumors or infections;(22) The monoclonal antibody according to any one of the above (1) to(7) and (12) for treating malignant tumors or infections; and(23) A method for treating malignant tumors or infections, comprisingadministration antibody according to any one of the above (1) to (7) and(12).

Advantage of the Invention

As shown in the following Examples, a monoclonal antibody (IgG2-AASantibody) which comprises a heavy chain constant region, IgG2-AAS, andbinds to human CD40 exhibits a remarkably high agonist activity.Therefore, the present invention can provide the monoclonal antibodywhich comprises a heavy chain constant region which is IgG2, in whichvaline at position 234, glutamine at position 237 and proline atposition 331 are at least substituted with alanine, alanine and serine,respectively, (numbering is based on the EU index of Kabat et al); hasan agonist activity; and binds to human CD40 (hereinafter referred to as“monoclonal antibody of the present invention”); a DNA which encodes themonoclonal antibody; a vector which comprises the DNA; a transformantobtainable by introducing the vector; a process for producing themonoclonal antibody using the transformant; and a pharmaceuticalcomposition and a therapeutic agent comprising the monoclonal antibody.Alternatively, as shown in the following Example, IgG2-AAS(341)antibody, one of the monoclonal antibodies, has an increased plasmaresidence time compared to IgG2-S(341). Still further, IgG2-AAS(341)antibody has a decreased liver toxicity compared to IgG2-S(341).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows a binding activity of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody. The abscissarepresents the antibody concentration (μg/ml) and the ordinaterepresents the mean fluorescence intensity. The mean fluorescenceintensity of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody is represented by the mark  and thedashed line, the mean fluorescence intensity of IgG2-S(341) antibody isrepresented by the mark ◯ and the solid line and the mean fluorescenceintensity of the negative control antibody is represented by the mark *and the dotted line.

FIG. 1B shows a binding activity of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody. Theabscissa represents the antibody concentration (μg/ml) and the ordinaterepresents the mean fluorescence intensity. The mean fluorescenceintensity of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody is represented by the mark  andthe dashed line, the mean fluorescence intensity of IgG2-S(21.4.1)antibody is represented by the mark ◯ and the solid line and the meanfluorescence intensity of the negative control antibody is representedby the mark * and the dotted line.

FIG. 2A shows an agonist activity of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody. Theabscissa represents the antibody concentration (μg/ml) and the ordinaterepresents the mean fluorescence intensity. The mean fluorescenceintensity of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody is represented by the mark  and thedashed line, the mean fluorescence intensity of IgG2-S(341) antibody isrepresented by the mark ◯ and the solid line and the mean fluorescenceintensity of the negative control antibody is represented by the mark *and the dotted line.

FIG. 2B shows an agonist activity of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody. Theabscissa represents the antibody concentration (μg/ml) and the ordinaterepresents the mean fluorescence intensity. The mean fluorescenceintensity of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody is represented by the mark  andthe dashed line, the mean fluorescence intensity of IgG2-S(21.4.1)antibody is represented by the mark ◯ and the solid line and the meanfluorescence intensity of the negative control antibody is representedby the mark * and the dotted line.

FIG. 3 shows the concentration of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody in blood. Theabscissa represents the time after administration (days) and theordinate represents the drug concentration in blood. The drugconcentration in blood of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody is represented by themark  and the dashed line, the drug concentration in blood ofIgG2-S(341) antibody is represented by the mark ◯ and the solid line andthe drug concentration in blood of the negative control antibody isrepresented by the mark * and the dotted line.

FIG. 4A shows the concentration of AST in blood. The abscissa representsthe time after administration (hours) and the ordinate represents theactivity value (Karmen unit). The AST at the time of administeringIgG2-AAS(341) antibody is represented by the mark  and the dashed line,the AST at the time of administering IgG2-S(341) antibody is representedby the mark ◯ and the solid line and the AST at the time ofadministering PBS is represented by the mark * and the dotted line.

FIG. 4B shows the concentration of ALT in blood. The abscissa representsthe time after administration (hours) and the ordinate represents theactivity value (Karmen unit). The ALT at the time of administeringIgG2-AAS(341) antibody is represented by the mark  and the dashed line,the ALT at the time of administering IgG2-S(341) antibody is representedby the mark ◯ and the solid line and the ALT at the time ofadministering PBS is represented by the mark * and the dotted line.

DESCRIPTIONS OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a monoclonal antibody which binds toCD40, comprises a heavy chain constant region, IgG2-AAS and has anagonist activity.

The antibody of the present invention binds to an extracellular regionof CD40.

The binding of the antibody of the present invention to CD40 can beconfirmed by radioimmunoassay using a solid-phase sandwich method or thelike, or by a known immunological detection method using enzymeimmunoassay (ELISA) or the like for CD40-expressing cells, preferably amethod capable of investigating a binding activity of an antibody for acell expressing a particular antigen and the particular antigen, such asfluorescent cell staining method. Examples include a fluorescentantibody staining method [Cancer Immunol. Immunother., 36, 373 (1993)]using such as an FMAT8100HTS System (manufactured by AppliedBiosystems), a fluorescent cell staining method using flow cytometry,surface plasmon resonance using such as a Biacore System (manufacturedby GE Healthcare), or other methods. Furthermore, in addition to theabove method, a known immunological detection method [MonoclonalAntibodies—Principles and practice, Third edition, Academic Press(1996), Antibodies—A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory(1988), Monoclonal Antibody Experimental Manual, Kodan-sha Scientific(1987)] can be combined to confirm these.

The cell expressing CD40 may be any cell, so long as it expresses CD40,and examples include a cell which is naturally present in the humanbody, a cell line established from the cell which is naturally presentin the human body, a cell obtained by gene recombination technique andthe like.

The cell which is naturally present in the human body includes a cellexpressing the polypeptide in the body of a patient with auto immunedisease a patient with allergy, a patient with cancer, such as a cellexpressing CD40 among tumor cells obtained by biopsy or the like.

Examples of the cell which is naturally present in the human bodyinclude a cell expressing CD40 among cell lines obtained byestablishment of the CD40-expressing cells obtained from the abovecancer patients, and specific examples include cell lines establishedfrom human, such as Ramas (ATCC CRL-1596), Raji (ATCC CCL-86), Daudi(ATCC CCL-213), T24 (ATCC HTB-4) and the like.

Specific Examples of the cell obtained by gene recombination techniquesinclude a CD40-expressing cell obtained by introducing an expressionvector comprising a CD40-encoding cDNA into an insect cell, an animalcell or the like, and the like. The nucleotide sequence and the aminoacid sequence of human CD40 can be obtained from a known database suchas NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), and are registered as thenucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:36 (NCBI accession NO:NM_(—)001250) and the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:37(NCBI accession NO: NP_(—)001240), respectively. In the presentinvention, CD40 means human CD40 in the absence of a particularexplanation.

In the present invention, specific examples of the monoclonal antibodymay include an antibody secreted by a single clone antibody-producingcell.

The monoclonal antibody means that an antibody which recognizes only oneepitope (also called antigen determinant) and has uniform amino acidsequence (primary structure).

In the present invention, the monoclonal antibody comprises two heavychains (a heavy chain constant region and a heavy chain variable region)and two light chains (a light chain constant region and a light chainvariable region).

The epitope include a single amino acid sequence, a three-dimensionalstructure consisting of an amino acid sequence, an amino acid sequencehaving a sugar chain bound thereto, a three-dimensional structureconsisting of an amino acid sequence having a sugar chain bound thereto,and the like, which a monoclonal antibody recognizes and binds to. Theepitope of the monoclonal antibody of the present invention preferablyexists in the extracellular region of CD40.

In the present invention, the recombinant antibody includes an antibodyproduced by gene recombination, such as a human chimeric antibody, ahuman antibody, a human antibody and an antibody fragment thereof. TheCDR is an abbreviated name of a human type complementarity determiningregion which may be referred to as the CDR hereinafter. Among therecombinant antibodies, one having a character of a monoclonal activity,low immunogenecity and prolonged half-life in blood is preferable as atherapeutic agent.

The human chimeric antibody is an antibody comprising a heavy chainvariable region (hereinafter referred to as “VH”) and a light chainvariable region (hereinafter referred to as “VL”) of an antibody of anon-human animal and a heavy chain constant region (hereinafter referredto as “CH”) and a light chain constant region (hereinafter referred toas “CL”) of a human antibody.

The human chimeric antibody of the present invention can be produced asfollows. Specifically, the human chimeric antibody can be produced byobtaining cDNAs encoding VH and VL from a hybridoma which produces amonoclonal antibody which specifically recognizes CD40 and binds to theextracellular region, inserting each of them into an expression vectorfor animal cell comprising DNAs encoding CH and CL of human antibody tothereby construct a vector for expression of human chimeric antibody,and then introducing the vector into an animal cell to express theantibody. A human CDR-grafted antibody is an antibody in which aminoacid sequences of CDRs of VH and VL of an antibody derived from anon-human animal are grafted into appropriate positions of VH and VL ofa human antibody.

The human CDR-grafted antibody of the present invention can be producedby constructing cDNAs encoding an antibody variable region (hereinafterreferred to as “V region”) in which the amino acid sequences of CDRs ofVH and VL of an antibody derived from a non-human animal produced by ahybridoma which produces a monoclonal antibody which specificallyrecognizes CD40 and binds to the extracellular region are grafted intoframework regions (hereinafter referred to as “FR”) of VH and VL of anyhuman antibody, inserting each of them into a vector for expression ofanimal cell comprising genes encoding CH and CL of a human antibody tothereby construct a vector for expression of human CDR-grafted antibody,and introducing it into an animal cell to thereby express and producethe human CDR-grafted antibody.

A class of a heavy chain constant region of a human antibody includesIgA, IgM, IgE and IgG, and a subclass of IgG includes IgG1, IgG2, IgG3and IgG4. IgG2 has a plurality of allotypes (for example, SEQ ID NOs:33,34 and 35, hereinafter as allotypes 1, 2 and 3, respectively, seeAAN76042.1, CAC12842 and AAN76043.1 in NCBI Reference Sequences), andthe monoclonal antibody of the present invention may be any one of theallotypes. A class of a light chain constant region of a human antibodyincludes κ and λ, and the light chain constant region of the monoclonalantibody of the present invention may be either one of them.

A human antibody is originally an antibody naturally existing in thehuman body, and it also includes antibodies obtained from a humanantibody phage library or a human antibody-producing transgenic animal,which is prepared based on the recent advance in genetic engineering,cell engineering and developmental engineering techniques.

The antibody naturally existing in the human body can be prepared, forexample by isolating a human peripheral blood lymphocyte, immortalizingit by infecting with EB virus or the like and then cloning it to therebyobtain lymphocytes capable of producing the antibody, culturing thelymphocytes thus obtained, and purifying the antibody from thesupernatant of the culture.

The human antibody phage library is a library in which antibodyfragments such as Fab and scFv are expressed on the phage surface byinserting a gene encoding an antibody prepared from a human B cell intoa phage gene. A phage expressing an antibody fragment having the desiredantigen binding activity can be recovered from the library, using itsactivity to bind to an antigen-immobilized substrate as the index. Theantibody fragment can be converted further into a human antibodymolecule comprising two full H chains and two full L chains by geneticengineering techniques.

A human antibody-producing transgenic animal is an animal in which ahuman antibody gene is integrated into cells. Specifically, a humanantibody-producing transgenic animal can be prepared by introducing agene encoding a human antibody into a mouse ES cell, grafting the EScell into an early stage embryo of other mouse and then developing it(Tomizuka. et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA., 2000 Vol. 197:722). A humanantibody is prepared from the human antibody-producing transgenicnon-human animal by obtaining a human antibody-producing hybridoma usinga hybridoma preparation method usually carried out in non-human mammals,culturing the obtained hybridoma and forming and accumulating the humanantibody in the supernatant of the culture.

In the present invention, the monoclonal antibody which binds to humanCD40 comprises a heavy chain constant region, IgG2-AAS. The presentinventors, as shown in Examples, have found that the IgG2-AAS antibodyexhibits a higher agonist activity than an antibody (hereinafter,referred to also as “IgG2-S antibody”) which comprises a heavy chainconstant region which is IgG2 (hereinafter, referred to as “IgG2-S”), inwhich proline at position 331 is substituted with serine (the number isbased on the EU index of Kabat et al.).

In addition, as is shown by Examples, it was found that theIgG2-AAS(341) antibody which was one of the monoclonal antibodies of theinvention had an effect to prolong blood residence time in comparisonwith the IgG2-S(341) antibody. Also, it was further found that theIgG2-AAS(341) antibody had an effect that toxicity for the liver islowered in comparison with the IgG2-S(341) antibody.

It is known that the CD40 ligand shows toxicity for the liver (Journalof Clinical Oncology, 19 (13), 3280-3287 (2001)) and similarly, it isknown that a monoclonal antibody which binds to CD40 showing agonistactivity also shows toxicity for the liver (American Journal ofPathology, 168(3), 786-795 (2006)). Although agonist activity of theIgG2-AAS antibody of the invention is enhanced in comparison with theIgG2-S antibody, its toxicity for the liver is lowered in comparisonwith the IgG2-S antibody. The lowering of toxicity can be confirmed bysuch as the decrease in blood concentration of aspartateaminotransferase (hereinafter also referred to as AST) or alanineaminotransferase (hereinafter also referred to as ALT). The antibody ofthe present invention include an antibody in which one or more aminoacid residue(s) is/are deleted, added, substituted and/or inserted inthe amino acid sequence which constitute the above-mentioned monoclonalantibody and which has a similar activity to the above-mentionedantibody. The position to which addition, substitution and/or insertionis introduced may specifically exist in a heavy chain constant region, alight chain constant region, a heavy chain variable region or a lightchain constant region; more specifically CDR1, CDR2 or CDR3, or aframework region (FR) of the above heavy chain and light chain ofvariable region.

The number of amino acids which are deleted, substituted, insertedand/or added is one or more, and is not specifically limited, but it iswithin the range where deletion, substitution or addition is possible byknown methods such as the site-directed mutagenesis described inMolecular Cloning, 2nd Edition; Current Protocols in Molecular Biology,John Wiley & Sons (1987-1997); Nucleic Acids Research, 10, 6487 (1982),Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 79, 6409 (1982); Gene, 34, 315 (1985),Nucleic Acids Research, 13, 4431 (1985); Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 82,488 (1985) or the like. For example, the number is 1 to dozens,preferably 1 to 20, more preferably 1 to 10, and most preferably 1 to 5(for example, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5), other than the substitutions of valineat position 234 with alanine, glutamine at position 237 with alanine andproline at position 331 with serine.

Therefore, in the present invention, amino acid residue may be deleted,added, substituted and/or inserted except for the substitution of AAS inthe heavy chain constant region, IgG2-AAS, and the monoclonal antibodyof the present invention include a monoclonal antibody which comprisessuch a heavy chain constant region.

The expression “one or more amino acid residue(s) is/are deleted,substituted, inserted and/or added” in the amino acid sequence of theabove antibody means the followings. That is, it means there isdeletion, substitution, insertion or addition of one or plural aminoacids at optional positions in the same sequence and one or plural aminoacid sequences. Also, the deletion, substitution, insertion or additionmay occur at the same time and the amino acid which is substituted,inserted or added may be either a natural type or a non-natural type.The natural type amino acid includes L-alanine, L-asparagine, L-asparticacid, L-glutamine, L-glutamic acid, glycine, L-histidine, L-isoleucine,L-leucine, L-lysine, L-methionine, L-phenylalanine, L-proline, L-serine,L-threonine, L-tryptophan, L-tyrosine, L-valine, L-cysteine and thelike.

Preferable examples of mutually substitutable amino acids are shownbelow. The amino acids in the same group are mutually substitutable.

Group A: leucine, isoleucine, norleucine, valine, norvaline, alanine,2-aminobutanoic acid, methionine, O-methylserine, t-butylglycine,t-butylalanine, cyclohexylalanineGroup B: aspartic acid, glutamic acid, isoaspartic acid, isoglutamicacid, 2-aminoadipic acid, 2-aminosuberic acidGroup C: asparagine, glutamineGroup D: lysine, arginine, ornithine, 2,4-diaminobutanoic acid,2,3-diaminopropionic acidGroup E: proline, 3-hydroxyproline, 4-hydroxyprolineGroup F: serine, threonine, homoserineGroup G: phenylalanine, tyrosine

The antibody of the present invention includes an antibody conjugate inwhich a monoclonal antibody which binds to the extracellular region ofCD40 is chemically or genetically bound to a radioisotope, an agenthaving low molecular weight, an agent having high molecular weight, aprotein such as antibody, and the like.

The antibody derivative of the present invention can be produced bychemically conjugating a radioisotope a radioisotope, an agent havinglow molecular weight, an agent having high molecular weight, animmunostimulator, a protein or the like to the N-terminal side orC-terminal side of an H chain or an L chain of the monoclonal antibodywhich binds to the extracellular region of CD40 in the presentinvention, an appropriate substituent or side chain of the antibody, asugar chain in the antibody or the like [Antibody Engineering Handbook,edited by Osamu Kanemitsu, published by Chij in Shokan (1994)].

Also, the antibody derivative of the present invention can begenetically produced using a genetic technique, such as, by linking aDNA encoding the monoclonal antibody which binds to the extracellularregion of CD40 in the present invention to other DNA encoding a proteinto be conjugated or a therapeutic antibody, inserting the DNA into avector for expression, and introducing the expression vector into anappropriate host cell to express the derivative.

The radioisotope includes ¹³¹I, ¹²⁵I, ⁹⁰Y, ⁶⁴Cu, ¹⁹⁹Tc, ⁷⁷Lu, ²¹¹At andthe like. The radioisotope can directly be conjugated with the antibodyby Chloramine-T method. Also, a substance chelating the radioisotope canbe conjugated with the antibody. The chelating agent includesmethylbenzyldiethylene-triaminepentaacetic acid (MX-DTPA) and the like.

The agent having low molecular weight includes an anti-tumor agent suchas an alkylating agent, a nitrosourea agent, a metabolism antagonist, anantibiotic substance, an alkaloid derived from a plant, a topoisomeraseinhibitor, an agent for hormonotherapy, a hormone antagonist, anaromatase inhibitor, a P glycoprotein inhibitor, a platinum complexderivative, an M-phase inhibitor and a kinase inhibitor [RinshoSyuyo-gaku (Clinical Oncology), Gan to Kagaguryoho-Sha (1996)], asteroid agent such as hydrocortisone and prednisone, a nonsteroidalagent such as aspirin and indomethacin, immune-regulating agent such ascyclophosphamide and azathioprine, anti-inflammatory agent such asanti-histamine agent (for example, chlorpheniramine maleate andclemastine) [Ensho to Kouensho-Ryoho (Inflammation and Anti-inflammationTherapy), Ishiyaku Shuppann (1982)] and the like.

Examples of the antitumor agent include amifostine (Ethyol), cisplatin,dacarbazine (DTIC), dactinomycin, mecloretamin (nitrogen mustard),streptozocin, cyclophosphamide, iphosphamide, carmustine (BCNU),lomustine (CCNU), doxorubicin (adriamycin), epirubicin, gemcitabine(Gemsal), daunorubicin, procarbazine, mitomycin, cytarabine, etoposide,methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, fluorouracil, vinblastine, vincristine,bleomycin, daunomycin, peplomycin, estramustine, paclitaxel (Taxol),docetaxel (Taxotea), aldesleukin, asparaginase, busulfan, carboplatin,oxaliplatin, nedaplatin, cladribine, camptothecin,10-hydroxy-7-ethylcamptothecin (SN38), floxuridine, fludarabine,hydroxyurea, iphosphamide, idarubicin, mesna, irinotecan (CPT-11),nogitecan, mitoxantrone, topotecan, leuprolide, megestrol, melfalan,mercaptopurine, hydroxycarbamide, plicamycin, mitotane, pegasparagase,pentostatin, pipobroman, streptozocin, tamoxifen, goserelin,leuprorelin, flutamide, teniposide, testolactone, thioguanine, thiotepa,uracil mustard, vinorelbine, chlorambucil, hydrocortisone, prednisolone,methylprednisolone, vindesine, nimustine, semustine, capecitabine,Tomudex, azacytidine, UFT, oxaliplatin, gefitinib (Iressa), imatinib(STI 571), elrotinib, FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) inhibitor,vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) inhibitor,fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR inhibitor), epidermal growthfactor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor such as Iressa and Tarceva, radicicol,17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin, rapamycin, amsacrine,all-trans-retinoic acid, thalidomide, lenalidomide, anastrozole,fadrozole, letrozole, exemestane, gold thiomalate, D-penicillamine,bucillamine, azathioprine, mizoribine, cyclosporine, rapamycin,hydrocortisone, bexarotene (Targretin), tamoxifen, dexamethasone,progestin substances, estrogen substances, anastrozole (Arimidex),Leuplin, aspirin, indomethacin, celecoxib, azathioprine, penicillamine,gold thiomalate, chlorpheniramine maleate, chlorpheniramine, clemastine,tretinoin, bexarotene, arsenic, voltezomib, allopurinol, calicheamicin,ibritumomab tiuxetan, Targretin, ozogamine, clarithromycin, leucovorin,ifosfamide, ketoconazole, aminoglutethimide, suramin, methotrexate,maytansinoid and derivatives thereof.

The method for conjugating the agent with the antibody includes a methodin which the chemotherapeutic agent having low molecular weight and anamino group of the antibody are conjugated via glutaraldehyde, a methodin which an amino group of the chemotherapeutic agent and a carboxylgroup of the antibody are bound via water-soluble carbodiimide, and thelike.

The agent having high molecular weight includes polyethylene glycol(hereinafter referred to as “PEG”), albumin, dextran, polyoxyethylene,styrene-maleic acid copolymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone, pyran copolymer,hydroxypropylmethacrylamide, and the like. By binding these compoundshaving high molecular weight to an antibody or antibody fragment, thefollowing effects are expected: (1) improvement of stability againstvarious chemical, physical or biological factors, (2) remarkableprolongation of half life in blood, (3) disappearance of immunogenicity,suppression of antibody production, and the like [Bioconjugate Drug,Hirokawa Shoten (1993)]. For example, the method for binding PEG to anantibody includes a method in which an antibody is allowed to react witha PEG-modifying reagent [Bioconjugate Drug, Hirokawa Shoten (1993)]. ThePEG-modifying reagent includes a modifying agent of ε-amino group oflysine (Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 178926/86),a modifying agent of a carboxyl group of aspartic acid and glutamic acid(Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 23587/81), amodifying agent of a guanidino group of arginine (Japanese PublishedUnexamined Patent Application No. 117920/90) and the like.

The immunostimulator includes a natural product known as immunoadjuvant.Specific examples include an agent for stimulating immunity, forexample, β(1→3)glucan (such as lentinan and schizophyllan),α-galactosylceramide and the like.

Examples of the protein include cytokine or growth factor whichstimulates immunocompetent cells such as NK cell, macrophage andneutrophil; toxic protein; and the like.

Examples of the cytokine or the growth factor include interferon(hereinafter referred to as “INF”)-α, INF-β, INF-γ, interleukin(hereinafter referred to as “IL”)-2, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, IL-21, IL-23,granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocytemacrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), macrophage-colonystimulating factor (M-CSF) and the like. The toxic protein includesricin, diphtheria toxin, ONTAK and the like, and also includes a toxicprotein wherein mutation is introduced into a protein in order tocontrol the toxicity.

The therapeutic antibody includes an antibody against an antigen inwhich apoptosis is induced by binding of the antibody, an antibodyagainst an antigen participating in formation of morbid part of tumor,an antibody which regulates immunological function and an antibodyrelating to angiogenesis in the morbid part.

The antigen in which apoptosis is induced by binding of the antibodyincludes cluster of differentiation (hereinafter “CD”) 19, CD20, CD21,CD22, CD23, CD24, CD37, CD53, CD72, CD73, CD74, CDw75, CDw76, CD77,CDw78, CD79a, CD79b, CD80 (B7.1), CD81, CD82, CD83, CDw84, CD85, CD86(B7.2), human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-Class II, Epidermal Growth FactorReceptor (EGFR) and the like.

The antigen for the antibody which regulates immunological functionincludes CD40, CD40 ligand, B7 family molecule (CD80, CD86, CD274,B7-DC, B7-H2, B7-H3, B7-H4, etc.), ligand of B7 family molecule (CD28,CTLA-4, ICOS, PD-1, BTLA, etc.), OX-40, OX-40 ligand, CD137, tumornecrosis factor (TNF) receptor family molecule (DR4, DR5, TNFR1, TNFR2,etc.), TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor (TRAIL) familymolecule, receptor family of TRAIL family molecule (TRAIL-R1, TRAIL-R2,TRAIL-R3, TRAIL-R4, etc.), receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa Bligand (RANK), RANK ligand, CD25, folic acid receptor 4, cytokine[IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, transforming growthfactor (TGF) β, TNFα, etc.], receptors of these cytokines, chemokine(SLC, ELC, 1-309, TARC, MDC, CTACK, etc.) and receptors of thesechemokines.

The antigen for the antibody which inhibits angiogenesis in the morbidpart includes vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), angiopoietin,fibroblast growth factor (FGF), EGF, platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF), erythropoietin (EPO), TGFβ,IL-8, ephilin, SDF-1 and the like.

A fusion body with a protein such as therapeutic antibody can beproduced by linking a cDNA encoding a monoclonal antibody to a cDNAencoding the protein, constructing a DNA encoding the fusion antibody,inserting the DNA into an expression vector for prokaryote or eukaryote,and then introducing the expression vector into a prokaryote oreukaryote to express the fusion antibody.

When the above antibody derivative is used in a detection method, adetermination method, used as a detection reagent, a determinationreagent or a diagnostic reagent, examples of the agent for binding tothe monoclonal antibody which binds to the extracellular region of CD40includes a method in which a specified label is used by labeling theantibody of the present invention. The label includes a label which isused in the general immunological detection or measuring method, andexamples include enzymes such as alkaline phosphatase, peroxidase andluciferase, luminescent materials such as acridinium ester and lophine,fluorescent materials such as fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) andtetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate (RITC), and the like.

Further, the present invention relates to a pharmaceutical compositionand a therapeutic agent comprising a monoclonal antibody which binds toan extracellular region of CD40, as an active ingredient. The disease isnot limited so long as it is a disease for which an anti-CD40 antibodyhaving an agonist activity is therapeutically effective. Examples of thediseases include infections (caused by, for example, hepatitis B virus,hepatitis C virus, hepatitis A virus, influenza virus, Listeriamonocytogenes, tubercle bacillus, malaria plasmodium or Toxoplasmagondii) and malignant tumors, since the anti-CD40 antibody having anagonist activity induces cell-mediated immunity and humoral-mediatedimmunity as described above. In the case where cancer cells themselvesin a malignant tumor express CD40, the malignant tumor can also betreated through the induction of cellular apoptosis by the anti-CD40antibody having an agonist activity. Examples of malignant tumorsinclude malignant lymphoma, malignant melanoma, lung cancer, bladdercancer, pancreatic cancer, pharyngeal cancer, mesothelioma, breastcancer, gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer,hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric cell carcinoma, prostate cancer,uterine cancer and ovarian cancer.

The therapeutic agent of the present invention comprises the abovemonoclonal antibody as an active ingredient.

The therapeutic agent comprising the antibody is preferably supplied asa pharmaceutical preparation produced by an appropriate method wellknown in the technical field of pharmaceutics, by mixing it with one ormore pharmaceutically acceptable carriers.

It is preferred to select a route of administration which is mosteffective in treatment. Examples include oral administration andparenteral administration, such as buccal, tracheal, rectal,subcutaneous, intramuscular or intravenous administration. In the caseof an antibody or peptide formulation, intravenous administration ispreferred. The dosage form includes sprays, capsules, tablets, granules,syrups, emulsions, suppositories, injections, ointments, tapes and thelike.

Although the dose or the frequency of administration varies depending onthe objective therapeutic effect, administration method, treatingperiod, age, body weight and the like, it is usually 10 μg/kg to 10mg/kg per day and per adult.

Further, the present invention relates to a method for immunologicallydetecting or measuring CD40, a reagent for immunologically detecting ormeasuring CD40, a method for immunologically detecting or measuring acell expressing CD40, and a diagnostic agent for diagnosing a diseaserelating to CD40 positive cells, comprising a monoclonal antibody whichbinds to the extracellular region of CD40 as an active ingredient.

In the present invention, examples of the method for detecting ormeasuring CD40 include any known method. Examples include method ofimmunological detection or immunological measurement and the like.

The method of immunological detection or immunological measurement is amethod in which an antibody amount or an antigen amount is detected ordetermined using a labeled antigen or antibody. Examples of theimmunological detection or immunological measurement are radioactivesubstance-labeled immunoantibody method (RIA), enzyme immunoassay (EIAor ELISA), fluorescent immunoassay (FIA), luminescent immunoassay,Western blotting method, physicochemical means and the like.

By detecting or measuring the cell expressing CD40 using the monoclonalantibody of the present invention, the disease relating to CD40 can bediagnosed.

For the detection of the cell expressing the polypeptide, knownimmunological detection methods can be used, and an immunoprecipitationmethod, a fluorescent cell staining method, an immune tissue stainingmethod and the like are preferably used. Also, an immunofluorescentstaining method using FMAT 8100 HTS system (Applied Biosystem) and thelike can be used.

The living body sample to be used for the detection or measurement ofCD40 in the present invention is not particularly limited, so long as ithas a possibility of containing CD40, such as tissue cells, blood, bloodplasma, serum, pancreatic juice, urine, fecal matter, tissue fluid orculture medium.

The diagnostic reagent comprising the antibody of the present inventionmay further contain a reagent for carrying out an antigen-antibodyreaction or a reagent for detection of the reaction depending on thedesired diagnostic method. The reagent for carrying out theantigen-antibody reaction includes a buffer, a salt, and the like. Thereagent for detection includes a reagent used for common immunologicaldetection or immunoassay such as a labeled secondary antibody forrecognizing the antibody and a substrate corresponding to the labeling.

A process for producing the antibody of the present invention, a methodfor treating the disease and a method for diagnosing the disease arespecifically described below.

1. Preparation of Monoclonal Antibody (1) Preparation of Antigen

CD40 as an antigen or a cell expressing CD40 can be obtained byintroducing an expression vector comprising cDNA encoding a full lengthor partial length of CD40 into Escherichia coli, yeast, an insect cell,an animal cell or the like. Also, CD40 can be obtained by purifying fromvarious human tumor culturing cells, human tissue and the like whichexpress a large amount of CD40. Furthermore, the tumor culturing cell,the tissue or the like can be used as an antigen. In addition, asynthetic peptide having a partial sequence of CD40 can be preparedusing a chemical synthetic method such as Fmoc method and tBoc methodand used as an antigen.

CD40 used in the present invention can be produced, for example, usingthe following method to express a DNA encoding CD40 in a host cell.

Firstly, a recombinant vector is prepared by introducing a full lengthcDNA into downstream of a promoter of an appropriate expression vector.At this time, if necessary, a DNA fragment having an appropriate lengthcontaining a region encoding the polypeptide based on the full lengthcDNA, and the DNA fragment may be used instead of the above full lengthcDNA. Next, a transformant producing the polypeptide can be obtained byintroducing the recombinant vector into a host cell suitable for theexpression vector.

The expression vector includes vectors which can replicate autonomouslyin the host cell to be used or vectors which can be integrated into achromosome comprising an appropriate promoter at such a position thatthe DNA encoding the portion encoding the polypeptide can betranscribed.

The host cell may be any one, so long as it can express the gene ofinterest, and includes Escherichia coli, yeast, an insect cell, ananimal cell and the like.

When a prokaryote such as Escherichia coli is used as the host cell, itis preferred that the recombinant vector is autonomously replicable inthe prokaryote and contains a promoter, a ribosome binding sequence, theDNA encoding CD40 and a transcription termination sequence. Therecombinant vector is not necessary to have a transcription terminationsequence, but a transcription termination sequence is preferably setjust below the structural gene. Furthermore, the recombinant vector mayfurther comprise a gene regulating the promoter.

Also, the above recombinant vector is preferably a plasmid in which thespace between Shine-Dalgarno sequence (also referred to as SD sequence),which is the ribosome binding sequence, and the initiation codon isadjusted to an appropriate distance (for example, 6 to 18 nucleotides).

Furthermore, the nucleotide sequence of the DNA encoding CD40 can besubstituted with another base so as to be a suitable codon forexpressing in a host cell, thereby improve the productivity of theobjective CD40.

The expression vector includes, for example, pBTrp2, pBTac1, pBTac2 (allmanufactured by Roche Diagnostics), pKK233-2 (manufactured byPharmacia), pSE280 (manufactured by Invitrogen), pGEMEX-1 (manufacturedby Promega), pQE-8 (manufactured by QIAGEN), pKYP10 (Japanese PublishedUnexamined Patent Application No. 110600/83), pKYP200 [AgriculturalBiological Chemistry, 48, 669 (1984)], pLSA1 [Agric. Biol. Chem., 53,277 (1989)], pGEL1 [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 82, 4306 (1985)],pBluescript II SK(−) (manufactured by Stratagene), pTrs30 [prepared fromEscherichia coli JM109/pTrS30 (FERM BP-5407)], pTrs32 [prepared fromEscherichia coli JM109/pTrS32 (FERM BP-5408)], pGHA2 [prepared fromEscherichia coli IGHA2 (FERM BP-400), Japanese Published UnexaminedPatent Application No. 221091/85], pGKA2 [prepared from Escherichia coliIGKA2 (FERM BP-6798), Japanese Published Unexamined Patent ApplicationNo. 221091/85], pTerm2 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,191, U.S. Pat. No.4,939,094, U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,735), pSupex, pUB110, pTP5, pC194, pEG400[J. Bacteriol., 172, 2392 (1990)], pGEX (manufactured by Pharmacia), pETsystem (manufactured by Novagen), pME18SFL3 and the like.

Any promoter can be used, so long as it can function in the host cell tobe used. Examples include promoters derived from Escherichia coli, phageand the like, such as trp promoter (Ptrp), lac promoter, PL promoter, PRpromoter and T7 promoter. Also, artificially designed and modifiedpromoters, such as a promoter in which two Ptrp are linked in tandem,tac promoter, lacT7 promoter and letI promoter, can be used.

Examples of the host cell includes Escherichia coli XL1-Blue,Escherichia coli XL2-Blue, Escherichia coli DH1, Escherichia coliMC1000, Escherichia coli KY3276, Escherichia coli W1485, Escherichiacoli JM109, Escherichia coli HB101, Escherichia coli No. 49, Escherichiacoli W3110, Escherichia coli NY49, Escherichia coli DH5a and the like.

Any introduction method of the recombinant vector can be used, so longas it is a method for introducing DNA into the above-described hostcell, and examples include a method using a calcium ion described inProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 69, 2110 (1972), methods described in Gene,17, 107 (1982) and Molecular & General Genetics, 168, 111 (1979) and thelike.

When an animal cell is used as the host cell, an expression vectorincludes, for example, pcDNAI, pcDM8 (available from Funakoshi), pAGE107[Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 22979/91;Cytotechnology, 3, 133 (1990)], pAS3-3 (Japanese Published UnexaminedPatent Application No. 227075/90), pCDM8 [Nature, 329, 840, (1987)],pcDNAI/Amp (manufactured by Invitrogen), pREP4 (manufactured byInvitrogen), pAGE103 [J. Biochemistry, 101, 1307 (1987)], pAGE210,pME18SFL3, pKANTEX93 (WO 97/10354) and the like.

Any promoter can be used, so long as it can function in an animal cell.Examples include a promoter of IE (immediate early) gene ofcytomegalovirus (CMV), SV40 early promoter, a promoter of retrovirus, ametallothionein promoter, a heat shock promoter, SRα promoter and thelike. Also, the enhancer of the IE gene of human CMV can be usedtogether with the promoter.

The host cell includes human leukemia Namalwa cell, monkey COS cell,Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell (Journal of Experimental Medicine, 108,945 (1958); Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 60, 1275 (1968); Genetics, 55,513 (1968); Chromosoma, 41, 129 (1973), Methods in Cell Science, 18, 115(1996); Radiation Research, 148, 260 (1997); Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,77, 4216 (1980); Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 60, 1275 (1968); Cell, 6,121 (1975); Molecular Cell Genetics, Appendix I, II (pp. 883-900)),CHO/DG44, CHO-K1 (ATCC CCL-61), DukXB11 (ATCC CCL-9096), Pro-5 (ATCCCCL-1781), CHO-S (Life Technologies, Cat #11619), Pro-3, rat myelomacell YB2/3HL.P2.G11.16AG.20 (referred to as YB2/0), mouse myeloma cellNS0, mouse myeloma cell SP2/0-Ag14, syrian hamster cell BHK or, HBT5637(Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 299/88) and thelike.

Any introduction method of the recombinant vector can be used, so longas it is a method for introducing DNA into an animal cell, and examplesinclude electroporation [Cytotechnology, 3, 133 (1990)], the calciumphosphate method (Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.227075/90), the lipofection method [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84, 7413(1987)], and the like.

CD40 can be produced by culturing the transformant derived from amicroorganism, an animal cell or the like having a recombinant vectorcomprising DNA encoding CD40 obtained by the procedure described abovein a medium to form and accumulate CD40 in the culture, and recoveringit from the culture. The method for culturing the transformant in themedium is carried out according to the usual method used in culturing ofhosts.

When the vector is expressed in a cell derived from a eukaryote, CD40 towhich sugars or sugar chains is bound can be obtained.

When a microorganism transformed with a recombinant vector containing aninducible promoter as a promoter is cultured, an inducer can be added tothe medium, if necessary. For example,isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside or the like can be added to themedium when a microorganism transformed with a recombinant vector usinglac promoter is cultured; or indoleacrylic acid or the like can be addedthereto when a microorganism transformed with a recombinant vector usingtrp promoter is cultured.

When a transformant obtained using an animal cell as the host cell iscultured, the medium includes generally used RPMI 1640 medium [TheJournal of the American Medical Association, 199, 519 (1967)], Eagle'sMEM medium [Science, 122, 501 (1952)], Dulbecco's modified MEM medium[Virology, 8, 396 (1959)] and 199 medium [Proceeding of the Society forthe Biological Medicine, 73, 1 (1950)], Iscove's Modified Dulbecco'smedium (IMDM), the media to which fetal calf serum, etc. is added, andthe like. The culturing is carried out generally at a pH of 6 to 8 and30 to 40° C. for 1 to 7 days in the presence of 5% CO₂. If necessary, anantibiotic such as kanamycin or penicillin can be added to the mediumduring the culturing.

Regarding the expression method of gene encoding CD40, in addition todirect expression, secretory production, fusion protein expression andthe like can be carried out according to the method described inMolecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold SpringHarbor Laboratory Press (1989).

The process for producing CD40 includes a method of intracellularexpression in a host cell, a method of extracellular secretion from ahost cell, a method of producing on a host cell membrane outer envelope,and the like. The appropriate method can be selected by changing thehost cell used and the structure of the polypeptide produced.

When CD40 is produced in a host cell or on a host cell membrane outerenvelope, CD40 can be positively secreted extracellularly in accordancewith the method of Paulson et al. [J. Biol. Chem., 264, 17619 (1989)],the method of Lowe et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 86, 8227 (1989),Genes Develop., 4, 1288 (1990)], the methods described in JapanesePublished Unexamined Patent Application No. 336963/93 and WO 94/23021,and the like.

Also, the production amount can be increased in accordance with themethod described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No.227075/90 utilizing a gene amplification system using such as adihydrofolate reductase gene.

CD40 can be isolated and purified from the above culture, for example,as follows.

When CD40 is intracellularly expressed in a dissolved state, the cellsafter culturing are recovered by centrifugation, suspended in an aqueousbuffer and then disrupted using ultrasonicator, French press, MantonGaulin homogenizer, dynomill or the like to obtain a cell-free extract.The cell-free extract is centrifuged to obtain a supernatant, and apurified preparation can be obtained by subjecting the supernatant to ageneral enzyme isolation and purification techniques such as solventextraction; salting out with ammonium sulfate etc.; desalting;precipitation with an organic solvent; anion exchange chromatographyusing a resin such as diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-sepharose, DIAION HPA-75(manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical); cation exchange chromatographyusing a resin such as S-Sepharose FF (manufactured by Pharmacia);hydrophobic chromatography using a resin such as butyl-Sepharose orphenyl-Sepharose; gel filtration using a molecular sieve; affinitychromatography; chromatofocusing; electrophoresis such as isoelectricfocusing; and the like which may be used alone or in combination.

When CD40 is expressed intracellularly by forming an inclusion body, thecells are recovered, disrupted and centrifuged in the same manner, andthe inclusion body of CD40 are recovered as a precipitation fraction.The recovered inclusion body of the protein is solubilized with aprotein denaturing agent. The protein is made into a normalthree-dimensional structure by diluting or dialyzing the solubilizedsolution, and then a purified product of CD40 is obtained by the sameisolation purification method as above.

When CD40 or the derivative such as a glycosylated product is secretedextracellularly, CD40 or the derivative such as a glycosylated productcan be recovered from the culture supernatant. That is, the culture istreated by a method such as centrifugation in the same manner as aboveto obtain a culture supernatant from which solids are removed, apurified product of CD40 can be obtained from the culture supernatant bythe same isolation purification method as above.

Also, CD40 used in the present invention can be produced by a chemicalsynthesis method, such as Fmoc method or tBoc method. Also, it can bechemically synthesized using a peptide synthesizer manufactured byAdvanced ChemTech, Perkin-Elmer, Pharmacia, Protein TechnologyInstrument, Synthecell-Vega, PerSeptive, Shimadzu Corporation, or thelike.

(2) Immunization of Animal and Preparation of Antibody-Producing Cellfor Fusion

A mouse, rat or hamster 3 to 20 weeks old is immunized with the antigenprepared in the above (1), and antibody-producing cells are collectedfrom the spleen, lymph node or peripheral blood of the animal. Also,when the increase of a sufficient titer in the above animal is notrecognized due to low immunogenecity, a CD40 knockout mouse may by usedas an animal to be immunized.

The immunization is carried out by administering the antigen to theanimal through subcutaneous, intravenous or intraperitoneal injectiontogether with an appropriate adjuvant (for example, complete Freund'sadjuvant, combination of aluminum hydroxide gel with pertussis vaccine,or the like). When the antigen is a partial peptide, a conjugate isproduced with the partial peptide and a carrier protein such as BSA(bovine serum albumin), KLH (keyhole limpet hemocyanin) or the like,which is used as the antigen.

The administration of the antigen is carried out 5 to 10 times every oneweek or every two weeks after the first administration. On the 3rd to7th day after each administration, a blood sample is collected from thefundus of the eye, the reactivity of the serum with the antigen istested, for example, by enzyme immunoassay [Antibodies—A LaboratoryManual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1988)] or the like. A mouse, rator hamster showing a sufficient antibody titer in their sera against theantigen used for the immunization is used as the supply source of anantibody-producing cell for fusion.

In fusion of the antibody-producing cells and myeloma cells, on the 3rdto 7th days after the final administration of the antigen, tissuecontaining the antibody-producing cells such as the spleen from theimmunized mouse, rat or hamster is excised to collect theantibody-producing cell. When the spleen cells are used, the spleen iscut out and loosened followed by centrifuged. Then, antibody-producingcells for fusion are obtained by removing erythrocytes.

(3) Preparation of Myeloma Cell

An established cell line obtained from mouse is used as myeloma cells.Examples include 8-azaguanine-resistant mouse (derived from BALB/cmouse) myeloma cell line P3-X63Ag8-U1 (P3-U1) [Current Topics inMicrobiology and Immunology, 18, 1-7 (1978)], P3-NS1/1-Ag41 (NS-1)[European J Immunology, 6, 511-519 (1976)], SP2/0-Ag14 (SP-2) [Nature,276, 269-270 (1978)], P3-X63-Ag8653 (653) [J Immunology, 123, 1548-1550(1979)], P3-X63-Ag8 (X63) [Nature, 256, 495-497 (1975)] and the like.

These cell lines are subcultured in a normal medium [a medium in whichglutamine, 2-mercaptoethanol, gentamicin, FBS and 8-azaguanine are addedto RPMI-1640 medium] and they are subcultured in the normal medium 3 or4 days before cell fusion to ensure the cell number of 2×10⁷ or more onthe day for fusion.

(4) Cell Fusion and Preparation of Hybridoma for Producing MonoclonalAntibody

The antibody-producing cells for fusion obtained in the above (2) andmyeloma cells obtained in the above (3) were sufficiently washed with aMinimum Essentional Medium (MEM) medium or PBS (1.83 g of disodiumhydrogen phosphate, 0.21 g of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, 7.65 g ofsodium chloride, 1 liter of distilled water, pH 7.2) and mixed to give aratio of the antibody-producing cells: the myeloma cells=5 to 10:1,followed by centrifugation. Then, the supernatant is discarded. Theprecipitated cell group is sufficiently loosened. After loosening theprecipitated cell, the mixture of polyethylene glycol-1000 (PEG-1000),MEM medium and dimethylsulfoxide is added to the cell under stirring at37° C. In addition, 1 to 2 mL of MEM medium is added several times everyone or two minutes, and MEM medium is added to give a total amount of 50mL. After centrifugation, the supernatant is discarded. After theprecipitated cell group is gently loosened, the cells are gentlysuspended in HAT medium [a medium in which hypoxanthine, thymidine andaminopterinis added to the normal medium]. The suspension is cultured ina 5% CO₂ incubator for 7 to 14 days at 37° C.

After the culturing, a portion of the culture supernatant is sampled anda hybridoma which is reactive to an antigen containing CD40 and is notreactive to an antigen which does not contain CD40 is selected by ahybridoma selection method such as a binding assay as described below.Then, cloning is carried out twice by a limiting dilution method[firstly, HT medium (HAT medium from which aminopterin is removed) isused, and secondly, the normal medium is used], and a hybridoma whichshows a stably high antibody titer is selected as the monoclonalantibody-producing hybridoma.

(5) Preparation of Purified Monoclonal Antibody

The hybridoma cells producing a monoclonal antibody obtained by theabove (4) are administered by intraperitoneal injection into 8- to10-week-old mice or nude mice treated with pristane (0.5 mL of2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane (pristane) is intraperitoneallyadministered, followed by feeding for 2 weeks). The hybridoma developsascites tumor in 10 to 21 days. The ascitic fluid is collected from themice, centrifuged to remove solids, subjected to salting out with 40 to50% saturated ammonium sulfate and then precipitated by caprylic acid,passed through a DEAE-Sepharose column, a protein A column or a gelfiltration column to collect an IgG or IgM fraction as a purifiedmonoclonal antibody.

Furthermore, a monoclonal antibody-producing hybridoma obtained in theabove (4) is cultured in such as RPMI1640 medium including 10% FBS andthe supernatant is removed by the centrifugation. The precipitated cellsare suspended in Hybridoma SFM medium and cultured in 3 to 7 days. Theobtained cell suspension is centrifuged and the resulting supernatant ispassed through a protein A column or a protein G column to collect anIgG fraction and thereby obtain the purified monoclonal antibody. Inaddition, 5% of DIGO GF21 can be contained in Hybridoma SFM medium.

The subclass of the antibody can be determined using a subclass typingkit by enzyme immunoassay. The amount of the protein can be determinedby the Lowry method or from the absorbance at 280 nm.

(6) Selection of Monoclonal Antibody

Selection of monoclonal antibody is carried out by the following bindingassay using enzyme immunoassay method.

As the antigen, a gene-introduced cell or a recombinant protein obtainedby introducing an expression vector comprising a cDNA encoding CD40obtained in the above (1) into Escherichia coli, yeast, an insect cell,an animal cell or the like, or a purified polypeptide or partial peptideobtained from a human tissue is used. When the antigen is a partialpeptide, a conjugate is prepared with BSA, KLH or the like and is used.

After making these antigens into a solid layer by dispensing in a96-well plate, a serum of an animal to be immunized, a culturesupernatant of a monoclonal antibody-producing hybridoma or a purifiedantibody is dispensed therein as the primary antibody and allowed toreact. After thoroughly washing with PBS or PBS-Tween, ananti-immunoglobulin antibody labeled with biotin, an enzyme, achemiluminescent material, a radiation compound or the like is dispensedtherein as the secondary antibody and allowed to react. After thoroughlywashing with PBS-Tween, the reaction depending on the label of thesecondary antibody is carried out to select an monoclonal antibody whichspecifically react to the antigen.

The antibody which competes with the anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody ofthe present invention for its binding to the extracellular region ofCD40 can be prepared by adding an antibody to be tested to theabove-mentioned binding assay system and carrying out reaction. That is,a monoclonal antibody which competes with the thus obtained monoclonalantibody for its binding to the extracellular region of CD40 can beprepared by carrying out a screening of an antibody by which the bindingof the monoclonal antibody is inhibited when the antibody to be testedis added.

Furthermore, an antibody which binds to an epitope which is the same asthe epitope recognized by the monoclonal antibody of the presentinvention which recognizes the extracellular region of CD40 can beobtained by identifying the epitope of the antibody obtained in theabove binding assay, and preparing a partial synthetic peptide, asynthetic peptide mimicking the three-dimensional structure of theepitope or the like, followed by immunization.

In the present invention, an agonist activity can be measured by avariety of assays. For example, as shown in Examples, a method formeasuring the promotion of CD95 expression by an anti-CD40 antibodyusing Ramos cells may be exemplified.

2. Preparation of Recombinant Antibody

As production examples of recombinant antibodies, processes forproducing a human chimeric antibody and a human CDR-grafted antibody areshown below.

(1) Construction of Vector for Expression of Recombinant Antibody

A vector for expression of recombinant antibody is an expression vectorfor animal cell into which DNAs encoding CH and CL of a human antibodyhave been inserted, and is constructed by cloning each of DNAs encodingCH and CL of a human antibody into an expression vector for animal cell.

The C region of a human antibody may be CH and CL of any human antibody.Examples include CH belonging to γ1 subclass, CL belonging to κ class,and the like. As the DNAs encoding CH and CL of a human antibody, achromosomal DNA comprising an exon and an intron or cDNA can be used. Asthe expression vector for animal cell, any expression vector can beused, so long as a gene encoding the C region of a human antibody can beinserted thereinto and expressed therein. Examples include pAGE107[Cytotechnol., 3, 133 (1990)], pAGE103 [J. Biochem., 101, 1307 (1987)],pHSG274 [Gene, 27, 223 (1984)], pKCR [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 78,1527 (1981)], pSG1bd2-4 [Cytotechnol., 4, 173 (1990)], pSE1UK1Sed1-3[Cytotechnol., 13, 79 (1993)] and the like. Examples of a promoter andenhancer used for an expression vector for animal cell include an SV40early promoter [J. Biochem., 101, 1307 (1987)], a Moloney mouse leukemiavirus LTR [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 149, 960 (1987)], animmunoglobulin H chain promoter [Cell, 41, 479 (1985)] and enhancer[Cell, 33, 717 (1983)] and the like.

In respect of easiness of construction of a vector for expression ofrecombinant antibody, easiness of introduction into animal cells, andbalance between the expression amounts of antibody H and L chains inanimal cells, a type in which both genes exist on the same vector(tandem type) is used as the vector for expression of recombinantantibody [J. Immunol. Methods, 167, 271 (1994)]. However, a type inwhich a gene encoding an antibody H chain and a gene encoding anantibody L chain exist on separate vectors can be used. Examples of thetandem type of the vector for expression of recombinant antibody includepKANTEX93 (WO 97/10354), pEE18 [Hybridoma, 17, 559 (1998)], and thelike.

(2) Obtaining of cDNA Encoding V Region of Antibody Derived fromNon-Human Animal and Analysis of Amino Acid Sequence

cDNAs encoding VH and VL of an antibody derived from a non-human animalare obtained as follows.

mRNA is extracted from hybridoma cells producing an antibody derivedfrom a non-human animal to synthesize cDNA. The synthesized cDNA iscloned into a vector such as a phage or a plasmid, to prepare a cDNAlibrary. Each of a recombinant phage or recombinant plasmid comprisingcDNA encoding VH or VL is isolated from the library using DNA encoding apart of the C region or V region of an antibody derived from a non-humananimal as the probe. The full length of the nucleotide sequences of VHand VL of the antibody derived from a non-human animal of interest onthe recombinant phage or recombinant plasmid are determined, and thefull length of the amino acid sequences of VH and VL are deduced fromthe nucleotide sequences.

The non-human animal may be any animal such as mouse, rat, hamster orrabbit, so long as a hybridoma cell can be produced therefrom.

Examples of the method for preparing total RNA from a hybridoma cellinclude a guanidine thiocyanate-cesium trifluoroacetate method [Methodsin Enzymol., 154, 3 (1987)]; a kit such as RNA easy kit (manufactured byQiagen); and the like.

Examples of the method for preparing mRNA from total RNA include anoligo (dT) immobilized cellulose column method [Molecular Cloning, ALaboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press(1989)]; a kit such as Oligo-dT30 <Super> mRNA Purification Kit(manufactured by Takara Bio); and the like. Furthermore, mRNA can beprepared from a hybridoma cell using a kit such as Fast Track mRNAIsolation Kit (manufactured by Invitrogen), Quick Prep mRNA PurificationKit (manufactured by Pharmacia) and the like.

Examples of the method for synthesizing cDNA and preparing a cDNAlibrary include known methods [Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual,Cold Spring Harbor Lab. Press (1989); Current Protocols in MolecularBiology, Supplement 1, John Wiley & Sons (1987-1997)]; a kit such asSuper Script™ Plasmid System for cDNA Synthesis and Plasmid Cloning(manufactured by Invitrogen), ZAP-cDNA Kit (manufactured by Stratagene);and the like.

The vector into which the synthesized cDNA using mRNA extracted from ahybridoma cell as the template is inserted for preparing a cDNA librarymay be any vector, so long as the cDNA can be inserted. Examples includeZAP Express [Strategies, 5, 58 (1992)], pBluescript II SK(+) [NucleicAcids Research, 17, 9494 (1989)], λzapII (manufactured by Stratagene),λgt10 and λgt11 [DNA Cloning: A Practical Approach, I, 49 (1985)],Lambda BlueMid (manufactured by Clontech), λExCell and pT7T3-18U(manufactured by Pharmacia), pcD2 [Mol. Cell. Biol., 3, 280 (1983)],pUC18 [Gene, 33, 103 (1985)], and the like.

Any Escherichia coli for introducing the cDNA library constructed by aphage or plasmid vector may be used, so long as the cDNA library can beintroduced, expressed and maintained. Examples include XL1-Blue MRF′[Strategies, 5, 81 (1992)], C600 [Genetics, 39, 440 (1954)], Y1088 andY1090 [Science, 222: 778 (1983)], NM522 [J. Mol. Biol., 166, 1 (1983)],K802 [J. Mol. Biol., 16, 118 (1966)], JM105 [Gene, 38, 275 (1985)], andthe like.

A colony hybridization or plaque hybridization method using an isotope-or fluorescence-labeled probe may be used for selecting cDNA clonesencoding VH and VL of an antibody derived from a non-human animal fromthe cDNA library [Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, SecondEdition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1989)].

Also, the cDNAs encoding VH and VL can be prepared through polymerasechain reaction (hereinafter referred to as “PCR”; Molecular Cloning, ALaboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press(1989); Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Supplement 1, John Wiley& Sons (1987-1997)) by preparing primers and using cDNA prepared frommRNA or a cDNA library as the template.

The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA can be determined by digesting thecDNA selected by the above method with appropriate restriction enzymesand the like, cloning the fragments into a plasmid such as pBluescriptSK(−) (manufactured by Stratagene), carrying out the reaction by ausually used nucleotide analyzing method such as the dideoxy method ofSanger, F. et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 74, 5463 (1977)], andthen analyzing the sequence using an automatic nucleotide sequenceanalyzer such as A.L.F. DNA sequencer (manufactured by Pharmacia).

Whether the obtained cDNAs encode the full amino acid sequences of VHand VL of the antibody containing a secretory signal sequence can beconfirmed by estimating the full length of the amino acid sequences ofVH and VL from the determined nucleotide sequence and comparing themwith the full length of the amino acid sequences of VH and VL of knownantibodies [Sequences of Proteins of Immunological Interest, US Dept.Health and Human Services (1991)]. The length of the secretory signalsequence and N-terminal amino acid sequence can be deduced by comparingthe full length of the amino acid sequences of VH and VL of the antibodycomprising a secretory signal sequence with full length of the aminoacid sequences of VH and VL of known antibodies [Sequences of Proteinsof Immunological Interest, US Dept. Health and Human Services (1991)],and the subgroup to which they belong can also be known. Furthermore,the amino acid sequence of each of CDRs of VH and VL can be found bycomparing the obtained amino acid sequences with amino acid sequences ofVH and VL of known antibodies [Sequences of Proteins of ImmunologicalInterest, US Dept. Health and Human Services (1991)].

Moreover, the novelty of the sequence can be examined by carrying out ahomology search with sequences in any database, for example, SWISS-PROT,PIR-Protein or the like using the obtained full length of the amino acidsequences of VH and VL, for example, according to the BLAST method [J.Mol. Biol., 215, 403 (1990)] or the like.

(3) Construction of Vector for Expression of Human Chimeric Antibody

cDNAs encoding VH and VL of antibody of non-human animal are cloned inthe upstream of genes encoding CH or CL of human antibody of vector forexpression of recombinant antibody obtained in the above (1) to therebyconstruct a vector for expression of human chimeric antibody.

For example, each cDNA encoding VH and VL of antibody of non-humananimal is ligated to synthetic DNA comprising a nucleotide sequence of3′-terminal of VH or VL of antibody of non-human animal and a nucleotidesequence of 5′-terminal of CH or CL of human antibody and havingrecognition sequence of an appropriate restriction enzyme at both ends,and cloned so that each of them is expressed in an appropriate form inthe upstream of gene encoding CH or CL of human antibody of the vectorfor expression of human CDR-grafted antibody obtained in the above (1)to construct a vector for expression of human chimeric antibody.

In addition, cDNA encoding VH or VL of the antibody derived from anon-human animal is amplified by PCR using a synthetic DNA having arecognition sequence of an appropriate restriction enzyme at bothterminals and each of them is cloned to the vector for expression ofrecombinant antibody obtained in the above (1).

(4) Construction of cDNA Encoding V Region of Human CDR-Grafted Antibody

cDNAs encoding VH or VL of a human CDR-grafted antibody can be obtainedas follows. First, amino acid sequences of FR in VH or VL of a humanantibody to which amino acid sequences of CDRs in VH or VL of anantibody derived from a non-human animal are transplanted are selected.As an amino acid sequence of FR to be selected, any amino acid sequencescan be used, so long as they are from human. Examples include amino acidsequences of FRs in VH or VL of human antibodies registered in databasesuch as Protein Data Bank or the like, and amino acid sequences commonto subgroups of FRs in VH or VL of human antibodies [Sequences ofProteins of Immunological Interest, US Dept. Health and Human Services(1991)], and the like. In order to inhibit the decrease in the bindingactivity of the antibody, amino acid sequences of FR having highhomology (at least 60% or more) with the amino acid sequence of FR in VHor VL of the original antibody is selected.

Then, amino acid sequences of CDRs of VH or VL of the original antibodyare grafted to the selected amino acid sequence of FR in VH or VL of thehuman antibody, respectively, to design each amino acid sequence of VHor VL of a human CDR-grafted antibody. The designed amino acid sequencesare converted to DNA sequences by considering the frequency of codonusage found in nucleotide sequences of genes of antibodies [Sequence ofProteins of Immunological Interest, US Dept. Health and Human Services(1991)], and the DNA sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of VH orVL of a human CDR-grafted antibody is respectively designed.

Based on the designed nucleotide sequences, several synthetic DNAshaving a length of about 100 nucleotides are synthesized, and PCR iscarried out using them. In this case, it is preferred in each of the Hchain and the L chain that 6 synthetic DNAs are designed in view of thereaction efficiency of PCR and the lengths of DNAs which can besynthesized.

Furthermore, the cDNA encoding VH or VL of a human CDR-grafted antibodycan be easily cloned into the vector for expression of human CDR-graftedantibody constructed in the above (1) by introducing the recognitionsequence of an appropriate restriction enzyme to the 5′ terminal of thesynthetic DNAs existing on the both ends.

Alternatively, based on the desired nucleotide sequence, the cloning ofcDNA can be carried our using each of the H chain synthesized as one DNAand the full-length L chain of synthetic DNA.

After the PCR, an amplified product is cloned into a plasmid such aspBluescript SK (−) (manufactured by Stratagene) or the like, and thenucleotide sequence is determined according to a method similar to themethod described in the above (2) to obtain a plasmid having a DNAsequence encoding the amino acid sequence of VH or VL of a desired humanCDR-grafted antibody.

(5) Modification of Amino Acid Sequence of V Region of Human CDR-GraftedAntibody

It is known that when a human CDR-grafted antibody is produced by simplygrafting only CDRs in VH and VL of an antibody derived from a non-humananimal into FRs of VH and VL of a human antibody, its antigen bindingactivity is lower than that of the original antibody derived from anon-human animal [BIO/TECHNOLOGY, 9, 266 (1991)]. In human CDR-graftedantibodies, among the amino acid sequences of FRs in VH and VL of ahuman antibody, an amino acid residue which directly relates to bindingto an antigen, or an amino acid residue which indirectly relates tobinding to an antigen by interacting with an amino acid residue in CDRor by maintaining the three-dimensional structure of an antibody isidentified and modified to an amino acid residue which is found in theoriginal non-human antibody to thereby increase the antigen bindingactivity which has been decreased.

In order to identify the amino acid residues relating to the antigenbinding activity in FR, the three-dimensional structure of an antibodyis constructed and analyzed by X-ray crystallography [J Mol. Biol., 112,535 (1977)], computer-modeling [Protein Engineering, 7, 1501 (1994)] orthe like. In addition, the modified human CDR-grafted antibody having arequired antigen binding activity can be obtained through variousattempts that several modified antibodies of each antibody are producedand the correlation between each of the modified antibodies and itsantibody binding activity is examined and through trial and errorprocess.

The modification of the amino acid sequence of FR in VH and VL of ahuman antibody can be accomplished using various synthetic DNA formodification according to PCR as described in the above (4). With regardto the amplified product obtained by the PCR, the nucleotide sequence isdetermined according to the method as described in the above (2) so thatwhether the objective modification has been carried out is confirmed.

(6) Construction of Vector for Expression of Human CDR-Grafted Antibody

A vector for expression of human CDR-grafted antibody can be constructedby cloning each cDNA encoding VH or VL of a constructed recombinantantibody into upstream of each gene encoding CH or CL of the humanantibody in the vector for expression of human CDR-grafted antibodyobtained in the above (1).

For example, when recognizing sequences of an appropriate restrictionenzymes are introduced to the 5′-terminal of synthetic DNAs positionedat both ends among synthetic DNAs used in the construction of VH or VLof the human CDR-grafted antibody obtained in the above (4) and (5),cloning can be carried out so that they are expressed in an appropriateform in the upstream of each gene encoding CH or CL of the humanantibody in the vector for expression of human CDR-grafted antibodyobtained in the above (1).

(7) Transient Expression of Recombinant Antibody

In order to efficiently evaluate the antigen binding activity of varioushuman CDR-grafted antibodies produced, the recombinant antibodies can beexpressed transiently using the vector for expression of humanCDR-grafted antibody obtained in the above (3) and (6) or the modifiedexpression vector thereof.

Any cell can be used as a host cell, so long as the host cell canexpress a recombinant antibody. Generally, COS-7 cell (ATCC CRL1651) isused [Methods in Nucleic Acids Res., CRC Press, 283 (1991)].

Examples of the method for introducing the expression vector into COS-7cell include a DEAE-dextran method [Methods in Nucleic Acids Res., CRCPress, 283 (1991)], a lipofection method [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,84, 7413 (1987)], and the like.

After introduction of the expression vector, the expression amount andantigen binding activity of the recombinant antibody in the culturesupernatant can be determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay[Monoclonal Antibodies—Principles and practice, Third edition, AcademicPress (1996), Antibodies—A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring HarborLaboratory (1988), Monoclonal Antibody Experiment Manual, KodanshaScientific (1987)] and the like.

(8) Obtaining a Transformant Stably Expressing a Recombinant Antibodyand Preparation of the Recombinant Antibody

A transformant which stably expresses a recombinant antibody can beobtained by introducing the vector for expression of recombinantantibody obtained in the above (3) and (6) into an appropriate hostcell.

Examples of the method for introducing the expression vector into a hostcell include electroporation [Japanese Published Unexamined PatentApplication No. 257891/90, Cytotechnology, 3, 133 (1990)] and the like.

As the host cell into which a vector for expression of recombinant isintroduced, any cell can be used, so long as it is a host cell which canproduce the recombinant antibody. Examples include CHO-K1 (ATCC CCL-61),DUkXB11 (ATCC CCL-9096), Pro-5 (ATCC CCL-1781), CHO-S (LifeTechnologies, Cat #11619), rat myeloma cell YB2/3HL.P2.G11.16Ag.20(hereinafter, also referred to as YB2/0), mouse myeloma cell NSO, mousemyeloma cell SP2/0-Ag14 (ATCC CRL1581), mouse P3×63-AG8.653 cell (ATCCCRL1580), CHO cell in which a dihydrofolate reductase gene (hereinafterreferred to as “dhfr”) is defective [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 77,4216 (1980)], lection resistance-acquired Lec13 [Somatic Cell andMolecular genetics, 12, 55 (1986)], CHO cell in whichα-1,6-fucosyltransaferse gene is defected (WO 05/35586), ratYB2/3HL.P2.G11.16Ag.20 cell (ATCC CRL1662), and the like.

After introduction of the expression vector, transformants which expressa recombinant antibody stably are selected by culturing in a medium foranimal cell culture containing an agent such as G418 sulfate(hereinafter referred to as “G418”) or the like (Japanese PublishedUnexamined Patent Application No. 257891/90).

Examples of the medium for animal cell culture include RPMI1640 medium(manufactured by Invitrogen), GIT medium (manufactured by NissuiPharmaceutical), EX-CELL301 medium (manufactured by JRH), IMDM medium(manufactured by Invitrogen), Hybridoma-SFM medium (manufactured byInvitrogen), media obtained by adding various additives such as FBS tothese media, and the like. The recombinant antibody can be produced andaccumulated in a culture supernatant by culturing the selectedtransformants in a medium. The expression amount and antigen bindingactivity of the recombinant antibody in the culture supernatant can bemeasured by ELISA or the like. Also, in the transformant, the expressionamount of the recombinant antibody can be increased by using DHFRamplification system or the like according to the method disclosed inJapanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 257891/90.

3. Purification of Monoclonal Antibody

The recombinant antibody can be purified from the culture supernatant ofthe transformant by using a protein A column [MonoclonalAntibodies—Principles and practice, Third edition, Academic Press(1996), Antibodies—A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory(1988)]. Any other conventional methods for protein purification can beused.

The molecular weight of the H chain or the L chain of the purifiedrecombinant antibody or the antibody molecule as a whole is determinedby polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis [Nature, 227, 680 (1970)], Westernblotting [Monoclonal Antibodies—Principles and practice, Third edition,Academic Press (1996), Antibodies—A Laboratory Manual, Cold SpringHarbor Laboratory (1988)], and the like.

4. Activity Evaluation of the Purified Antibody

The activity of the purified antibody of the present invention can beevaluated in the following manner.

The binding activity to a CD40-expressing cell is evaluated by thebinding assay described in the above 1-(6) or a surface plasmonresonance method using such as BIAcore system. Furthermore, it can bemeasured by fluorescent antibody technique [Cancer Immunol. Immunother,36, 373 (1993)] or the like.

In addition, CDC activity or ADCC activity against an antigen positivecell line is evaluated by a known method [Cancer Immunol. Immunother,36, 373 (1993)].

In the present invention, an agonist activity can be measured by avariety of assays. For example, as illustrated in Examples which willfollow, a method may be exemplified which measures the promotion of CD95expression by an anti-CD40 antibody using Ramos cells.

4. Method of Controlling Effector Activity of Antibody

As a method of controlling an effector activity of the monoclonalantibody of the present invention, there are known a method ofcontrolling an amount of fucose (hereinafter, referred to also as “corefucose”) which is bound in α-1,6 linkage to N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc)present in a reducing end of a complex type N-linked sugar chain whichis bound to asparagine (Asn) at position 297 of an Fc region of anantibody (WO2005/035586, WO2002/31140, and WO00/61739), a method ofcontrolling an effector activity of a monoclonal antibody by modifyingamino acid group(s) of an Fc region of the antibody, and the like.

The “effector activity” means an antibody-dependent activity that occursthrough an Fc region of an antibody. As the effector activity, there areknown antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC activity),complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC activity), antibody-dependentphagocytosis (ADP activity) by phagocytic cells such as macrophages ordendritic cells, and the like.

By controlling a content of core fucose of a complex type N-linked sugarchain of Fc of an antibody, an effector activity of the antibody can beincreased or decreased. According to a method of lowering a content offucose which is bound to a complex type N-linked sugar chain bound to Fcof the antibody, an antibody to which fucose is not bound can beobtained by the expression of an antibody using a CHO cell which isdeficient in a gene encoding α-1,6-fucosyltransferase. The antibody towhich fucose is not bound has a high ADCC activity. On the other hand,according to a method of increasing a content of fucose which is boundto a complex type N-linked sugar chain bound to Fc of an antibody, anantibody to which fucose is bound can be obtained by the expression ofan antibody using a host cell into which a gene encodingα-1,6-fucosyltransferase is introduced. The antibody to which fucose isbound has a lower ADCC activity than the antibody to which fucose is notbound.

Further, by modifying amino acid residue(s) of an Fc region of anantibody, an ADCC activity or CDC activity can be increased ordecreased. Because it is known that an ADCC or CDC activity is variableaccording to a subclass of an antibody, it is considered that the ADCCor CDC activity can be decreased by the mutation of an antibodysubclass. For example, generally among human IgG subclasses, IgG4 isknown as a subclass having low ADCC and CDC activities, IgG2 has a CDCactivity but with a low ADCC activity, and IgG1 has been reported tohave both high ADCC and CDC activities (Charles A. Janeway et al.,Immunobiology, 1997, Current Biology Ltd/Garland Publishing Inc.).Taking advantage of these characteristics, an antibody with lesscellular cytotoxicity can be obtained by selecting a particularsubclass. Further, an antibody having a desired activity can be preparedby a combination of a particular subclass of an antibody with pointmutations. Furthermore, an antibody having a desired activity can beprepared by combining an antibody comprising a specific subclass and apoint mutation.

Other than the above substitutions, such as (i) the substitution ofV234A and G237A (figures are based on the EU index as in Kabat et al.)into IgG2 subclass (Michael, S., et al., J. Immunol., 1997, 159; 3613)and (ii) substitution of D270, K322, P329, or P331 with A orsubstitution of P331 with S or G (Esohe E. Idusogie et al. J. Biol.Chem. 1994, 269:3469-3474, Yuanyuan Xu et al. J. Biol. Chem. 1994, 269:3469-3474; Brekke, O. H. et al. Eur. J. Immunol. 1994, 24: 2542; Morgan,A., et al., Immunology 1995, 86: 319; Lund, J., et al., J. Immunol.,1996, 157: 4963; and Tao, M. H., et al., J. Exp. Med. 1993, 178: 661),the following examples can be cited.

Glu233-Ser239, Gly316-Lys338, Lys274-Arg301, Tyr407-Arg416, Asn297,Glu318, Leu234-Ser239, Asp265-Glu269, Asn297-Thr299, and Ala327-Ile332are thought to be involved in the binding between IgG and FcR (Duncan,A. R., Woof, J. M., Partridge, L. J., Burton, D. R., and Winter, G(1988) Nature 332, 563-564; Gessner, J. E., Heiken, H., Tamm, A., andSchmidt, R. E. (1998) Ann. Hematol. 76, 231-248; Gavin, A., Hulett, M.,and Hogarth, P. M. (1998) in The Immunoglobulin Receptors and TheirPhysiological and Pathological Roles in Immunity (van de Winkel, J. G.J., and Hogarth, P. M., eds), pp. 11-35; Kluwer Academic PublishersGroup, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Sautes, C. (1997) in Cell-mediatedEffects of Immunoglobulins (Fridman, W. H., and Sautes, C., eds), pp.29-66; R. G Landes Co., Austin, Tex., Da'ron, M. (1997) Annu. Rev.Immunol. 15, 203-234; Canfield, S. M., and Morrison, S. L. (1991) J.Exp. Med. 173, 1483-1491; Chappel, M. S., Isenman, D. E., Everett, M.,Xu, Y.-Y., Dorrington, K. J., and Klein, M. H. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. U.S.A. 88, 9036-9040; Woof, J. M., Partridge, L. J., Jefferis, R.,and Burton, D. R. (1986) Mol. Immunol. 23, 319-330; and Wines, B. D.,Powell, M. S., Parren, P. W. H. I., Barnes, N., and Hogarth, P. M.(2000) J. Immunol. 164, 5313-5318). By introducing mutation into suchregions, ADCC activity can be reduced. Specifically, FcR-binding abilitycan be reduced by substituting L235 with E and A, respectively.

Alternatively, an antibody in which the effector activity of theantibody is controlled can be obtained by using a combination of theabove-mentioned point mutations in one antibody.

Since an anti-CD40 antibody having an agonist activity has an ability toactivate immune and therefore can be used in a therapeutic agent for avariety of diseases, it is considered to be preferable of the antibodyhas no or decreased ADCC and CDC activity leading to cell death ofCD40-expressing cells due to the activation. If CD40-expressing cellsare damaged by an ADCC activity or CDC activity, it is considered thatthere are a possibility of an immune suppression state contrary toexpected immune activation, and a possibility of causing a worsening ofthe disease (Charles A. Janeway et al., Immunology, 1997, CurrentBiology Ltd./Garland Publishing Inc.). By using this feature to selectan antibody comprising a specific subclass, an antibody having a reducedcytotoxicity can be prepared.

5. Method for Treating the Diseases Using the Anti-Cd40 Antibody of thePresent Invention

The monoclonal antibody of the present invention can be used fortreating malignant tumor or infection.

The therapeutic agent comprising the monoclonal antibody of the presentinvention may be only the antibody as an active ingredient, and ispreferably supplied as a pharmaceutical preparation produced by anappropriate method well known in the technical field of pharmaceutics,by mixing it with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers.

It is preferred to select a route of administration which is mosteffective in treatment. Examples include oral administration andparenteral administration, such as buccal, tracheal, rectal,subcutaneous, intramuscular or intravenous administration. In the caseof an antibody or peptide formulation, intravenous administration ispreferred. The dosage form includes sprays, capsules, tablets, granules,syrups, emulsions, suppositories, injections, ointments, tapes and thelike.

The pharmaceutical preparation suitable for oral administration includesemulsions, syrups, capsules, tablets, powders, granules and the like.

Liquid preparations such as emulsions and syrups can be produced using,as additives, water; sugars such as sucrose, sorbitol and fructose;glycols such as polyethylene glycol and propylene glycol; oils such assesame oil, olive oil and soybean oil; antiseptics such asp-hydroxybenzoic acid esters; flavors such as strawberry flavor andpeppermint; and the like.

Capsules, tablets, powders, granules and the like can be produced using,as additives, excipients such as lactose, glucose, sucrose and mannitol;disintegrating agents such as starch and sodium alginate; lubricantssuch as magnesium stearate and talc; binders such as polyvinyl alcohol,hydroxypropylcellulose and gelatin; surfactants such as fatty acidester; plasticizers such as glycerin; and the like.

The pharmaceutical preparation suitable for parenteral administrationincludes injections, suppositories, sprays and the like.

Injections can be prepared using a carrier such as a salt solution, aglucose solution or a mixture of both thereof.

Suppositories can be prepared using a carrier such as cacao butter,hydrogenated fat or carboxylic acid.

Sprays can be prepared using the antibody or antibody fragment as suchor using it together with a carrier which does not stimulate the buccalor airway mucous membrane of the patient and can facilitate absorptionof the compound by dispersing it as fine particles. The carrier includeslactose, glycerol and the like. Depending on the properties of theantibody and the carrier, it is possible to produce pharmaceuticalpreparations such as aerosols and dry powders.

In addition, the components exemplified as additives for oralpreparations can also be added to the parenteral preparations.

5. Method for Diagnosing the Disease Using the Anti-Cd40 Antibody of thePresent Monoclonal Antibody

A disease relating to CD40 can be diagnosed by detecting or measuringCD40 or CD40 expressing cell using the monoclonal antibody of thepresent invention.

A diagnosis of cancer, one of the diseases relating to CD40, can becarried out by, for example, the detection or measurement of CD40 asfollows.

The diagnosis can be done by detecting CD40 which expresses in cancercells in a patient's body using an immunological method such as a flowcytometry.

An immunological method is a method in which an antibody amount or anantigen amount is detected or determined using a labeled antigen orantibody. Examples of the immunological method include radioactivesubstance-labeled immunoantibody method, enzyme immunoassay, fluorescentimmunoassay, luminescent immunoassay, Western blotting method,physicochemical means and the like.

As a method for detection or determination of the amount of CD40 in thepresent invention, any known method may be included. For example, animmunological detection method or immunoassay may be exemplified.

Examples of the radioactive substance-labeled immunoantibody methodinclude a method, in which the antibody of the present invention isallowed to react with an antigen or a cell expressing an antigen, thenanti-immunoglobulin antibody subjected to radioactive labeling or abinding fragment thereof is allowed to react therewith, followed bydetermination using a scintillation counter or the like.

Examples of the enzyme immunoassay include a method, in which theantibody of the present invention is allowed to react with an antigen ora cell expressing an antigen, then an anti-immunoglobulin antibody or anbinding fragment thereof subjected to antibody labeling is allowed toreact therewith and the colored pigment is measured by aspectrophotometer, and, for example, sandwich ELISA may be used. As alabel used in the enzyme immunoassay, any known enzyme label [EnzymeImmunoassay, published by Igaku Shoin (1987)] can be used as describedalready. Examples include alkaline phosphatase labeling, peroxidaselabeling, luciferase labeling, biotin labeling and the like.

Sandwich ELISA is a method in which an antibody is bound to a solidphase, antigen to be detected or measured is trapped and anotherantibody is allowed to react with the trapped antigen. In the ELISA, 2kinds of antibody which recognizes the antigen to be detected ormeasured or the antibody fragment thereof in which antigen recognizingsite is different are prepared and one antibody or antibody fragments ispreviously adsorbed on a plate (such as a 96-well plate) and anotherantibody or antibody fragment is labeled with a fluorescent substancesuch as FITC, an enzyme such as peroxidase, or biotin. The plate towhich the above antibody is adsorbed is allowed to react with the cellseparated from living body or disrupted cell suspension thereof, tissueor disintegrated solution thereof, cultured cells, serum, pleuraleffusion, ascites, eye solution or the like, then allowed to react withlabeled monoclonal antibody or antibody fragment and a detectionreaction corresponding to the labeled substance is carried out. When anantigen concentration in the sample to be tested is measured by themethod, antigen concentration in the sample to be tested can becalculated from a calibration curve prepared by a stepwise dilution ofantigen of known concentration. As antibody used for sandwich ELISA, anyof polyclonal antibody and monoclonal antibody may be used or antibodyfragments such as Fab, Fab′ and F(ab)₂ may be used. As a combination of2 kinds of antibodies used in sandwich ELISA, a combination ofmonoclonal antibodies or antibody fragments recognizing differentepitopes may be used or a combination of polyclonal antibody withmonoclonal antibody or antibody fragments may be used.

A fluorescent immunoassay includes a method described in the literatures[Monoclonal Antibodies—Principles and practice, Third Edition, AcademicPress (1996); Manual for Monoclonal Antibody Experiments, KodanshaScientific (1987)] and the like. As a label for the fluorescentimmunoassay, any of known fluorescent labels (Fluorescent Immunoassay,Soft Science, (1983)) may be used as described already. Examples includeFITC, RITC and the like.

The luminescent immunoassay can be carried out using the methodsdescribed in the literature [Bioluminescence and Chemical Luminescence,Rinsho Kensa, 42, Hirokawa Shoten (1998)] and the like. As a label usedfor luminescent immunoassay, any of known luminescent labels can beincluded. Examples include acridinium ester, lophine or the like may beused.

Western blotting is a method in which an antigen or a cell expressing anantigen is fractionated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis[Antibodies—A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1988)],the gel is blotted onto PVDF membrane or nitrocellulose membrane, themembrane is allowed to react with antigen-recognizing antibody orantibody fragment, further allowed to react with an anti-mouse IgGantibody or antibody fragment which is labeled with a fluorescentsubstance such as FITC, an enzyme label such as peroxidase, a biotinlabeling, or the like, and the label is visualized to confirm thereaction. An example of Western blotting is described below.

Cells or tissues in which CD40 is expressed are dissolved in a solutionand, under reducing conditions, 0.1 to 30 μg as a protein amount perlane is electrophoresed by an SDS-PAGE method. The electrophoresedprotein is transferred to a PVDF membrane and allowed to react with PBScontaining 1 to 10% of BSA (hereinafter referred to as “BSA-PBS”) atroom temperature for 30 minutes for blocking. Here, the monoclonalantibody of the present invention is allowed to react therewith, washedwith PBS containing 0.05 to 0.1% Tween 20 (hereinafter referred to as“Tween-PBS”) and allowed to react with goat anti-mouse IgG labeled withperoxidase at room temperature for 2 hours. It is washed with Tween-PBSand a band to which the monoclonal antibody is bound is detected usingECL™ Western Blotting Detection Reagents (manufactured by Amersham) orthe like to thereby detect CD40. As an antibody used for the detectionin Western blotting, an antibody which can be bound to a polypeptidehaving no three-dimensional structure of a natural type is used.

The physicochemical method is specifically carried out using theantibody or antibody fragment of the present invention by reacting CD40as the antigen with the antibody of the present invention to form anaggregate, and detecting this aggregate. Other examples of thephysicochemical methods include a capillary method, a one-dimensionalimmunodiffusion method, an immunoturbidimetry and a lateximmunoturbidimetry [Handbook of Clinical Test Methods, Kanehara Shuppan,499 (1988)].

For example, in a latex immunodiffusion method, a carrier such aspolystyrene latex having a particle size of about of 0.1 to 1 μmsensitized with antibody or antigen may be used and when anantigen-antibody reaction is carried out using the corresponding antigenor antibody, scattered light in the reaction solution increases whiletransmitted light decreases. When such a change is detected asabsorbance or integral sphere turbidity, it is now possible to measureantigen concentration, etc. in the sample to be tested.

For the detection of the cell expressing CD40, known immunologicaldetection methods can be used, and an immunoprecipitation method, afluorescent cell staining method, an immune tissue staining method andthe like are preferably used.

The above-described antibody or antibody fragment of the presentinvention is solid-phased on a 96-well plate for ELISA and then blockedwith BSA-PBS. When the antibody is in a non-purified state such as aculture supernatant of hybridoma cell, anti-mouse immunoglobulin or ratimmunoglobulin or protein A or G or the like is previously adsorbed on a96-well plate for ELISA and blocked with BSA-PBS and a culturesupernatant of hybridoma cell is dispensed thereto for binding. AfterBSA-PBS is discarded and the residue is sufficiently washed with PBS,reaction is carried out with a dissolved solution of cells or tissuesexpressing CD40. An immune precipitate is extracted from the well-washedplate with a sample buffer for SDS-PAGE and detected by theabove-described Western blotting.

An immune cell staining method and an immune tissue staining method areimmunofluorescent staining methods (a flow cytometry) where cells ortissues in which antigen is expressed are treated, if necessary, with asurfactant or methanol to make an antibody easily permeate to the cellsor tissues, then the antibody of the present invention is allowed toreact therewith, then further allowed to react with ananti-immunoglobulin antibody or binding fragment thereof subjected tofluorescent labeling such as FITC, enzyme label such as peroxidase orbiotin labeling and the label is visualized and observed under amicroscope or cells are allowed to react with a fluorescence-labeledantibody and analyzed by a flow cytometer. That can be carried out bythe methods described, for example, in the literatures [MonoclonalAntibodies—Principles and practice, Third Edition, Academic Press(1996), Manual for Experiments of Monoclonal Antibodies, KodanshaScientific (1987)]. Particularly, since the antibody or antibodyfragment of the present invention binds to three-dimensional structureof an extracellular region of CD40, it can be preferably used fordetection of a cell expressing the polypeptide maintaining a naturaltype three-dimensional structure by a flow cytometry.

In addition, by using FMAT8100HTS system (manufactured by AppliedBiosystems) which utilizes the principle of fluorescent antibodystaining, the antigen quantity or antibody quantity can be measuredwithout separating the formed antibody-antigen complex and the freeantibody or antigen which is not concerned in the formation of theantibody-antigen complex.

Specific examples are described below (the signal region is estimated bySignalPver.3. In addition, the CDR region is decided in accordance withthe rule by Kabat et al.).

1. IgG2-AAS (341) Antibody

(1) DNA sequence of heavy chain (SEQ ID NO: 1)ATGTCTGTCT CCTTCCTCAT CTTCCTGCCC GTGCTGGGCCTCCCATGGGG TGTCCTGTCA CAGGTCCAAC TGCAGCAGTCAGGTCCAGGA CTGGTGAAGC CCTCGCAGAC CCTCTCACTCACCTGTGCCA TCTCCGGGGA CAGTGTCTCT AGCAACAGTGCTACTTGGAA CTGGATCAGG CAGTCCCCAT CGAGAGACCTTGAGTGGCTG GGAAGGACAT ACTACAGGTC CAAGTGGTATCGTGATTATG TAGGATCTGT GAAAAGTCGA ATAATCATCAACCCAGACAC ATCCAACAAC CAGTTCTCCC TGCAGCTGAACTCTGTGACT CCCGAGGACA CGGCTATATA TTACTGTACAAGAGCACAGT GGCTGGGAGG GGATTACCCC TACTACTACAGTATGGACGT CTGGGGCCAA GGGACCACGG TCACCGTCTCCTCAGCTAGC ACCAAGGGCC CATCGGTCTT CCCCCTGGCGCCCTGCTCCA GGAGCACCTC CGAGAGCACA GCGGCCCTGGGCTGCCTGGT CAAGGACTAC TTCCCCGAAC CGGTGACGGTGTCGTGGAAC TCAGGCGCTC TGACCAGCGG CGTGCACACCTTCCCAGCTG TCCTACAGTC CTCAGGACTC TACTCCCTCAGCAGCGTGGT GACCGTGCCC TCCAGCAACT TCGGCACCCAGACCTACACC TGCAACGTAG ATCACAAGCC CAGCAACACCAAGGTGGACA AGACAGTTGA GCGCAAATGT TGTGTCGAGTGCCCACCGTG CCCAGCACCA CCTGCAGCAG CACCGTCAGTCTTCCTCTTC CCCCCAAAAC CCAAGGACAC CCTCATGATCTCCCGGACCC CTGAGGTCAC GTGCGTGGTG GTGGACGTGAGCCACGAAGA CCCCGAGGTC CAGTTCAACT GGTACGTGGACGGCGTGGAG GTGCATAATG CCAAGACAAA GCCACGGGAGGAGCAGTTCA ACAGCACGTT CCGTGTGGTC AGCGTCCTCACCGTTGTGCA CCAGGACTGG CTGAACGGCA AGGAGTACAAGTGCAAGGTC TCCAACAAAG GCCTCCCAGC CTCCATCGAGAAAACCATCT CCAAAACCAA AGGGCAGCCC CGAGAACCACAGGTGTACAC CCTGCCCCCA TCCCGGGAGG AGATGACCAAGAACCAGGTC AGCCTGACCT GCCTGGTCAA AGGCTTCTACCCCAGCGACA TCGCCGTGGA GTGGGAGAGC AATGGGCAGCCGGAGAACAA CTACAAGACC ACACCTCCCA TGCTGGACTCCGACGGCTCC TTCTTCCTCT ACAGCAAGCT CACCGTGGACAAGAGCAGGT GGCAGCAGGG GAACGTCTTC TCATGCTCCGTGATGCATGA GGCTCTGCAC AACCACTACA CGCAGAAGAG CCTCTCCCTG TCTCCGGGTA AA(i) Signal: A at position 1 to A at position 60(ii) Variable region: C at position 61 to A at position 444

-   -   CDR1: A at position 151 to C at position 171    -   CDR2: A at position 214 to T at position 267    -   CDR3: G at position 364 to C at position 411        (iii) Constant region: G at position 445 to A at position 1422    -   position 234 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: G at position 784 to A at position 786    -   position 237 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: G at position 790 to A at position 792    -   position 331 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: T at position 1072 to C at position 1074

(2) Amino acid sequence of heavy chain (SEQ ID NO: 2)MSVSFLIFLP VLGLPWGVLS QVQLQQSGPG LVKPSQTLSLTCAISGDSVS SNSATWNWIR QSPSRDLEWL GRTYYRSKWYRDYVGSVKSR IIINPDTSNN QFSLQLNSVT PEDTAIYYCTRAQWLGGDYP YYYSMDVWGQ GTTVTVSSAS TKGPSVFPLAPCSRSTSEST AALGCLVKDY FPEPVTVSWN SGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGL YSLSSVVTVP SSNFGTQTYT CNVDHKPSNTKVDKTVERKC CVECPPCPAP PAAAPSVFLF PPKPKDTLMISRTPEVTCVV VDVSHEDPEV QFNWYVDGVE VHNAKTKPREEQFNSTFRVV SVLTVVHQDW LNGKEYKCKV SNKGLPASIEKTISKTKGQP REPQVYTLPP SREEMTKNQV SLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWES NGQPENNYKT TPPMLDSDGS FFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVF SCSVMHEALH NHYTQKSLSL SPGK*(i) Signal: M at position 1 to S at position 20(ii) Variable region: Q at position 21 to S at position 148

-   -   CDR1: S at position 51 to N at position 57    -   CDR2: R at position 72 to S at position 89    -   CDR3: A at position 122 to V at position 137        (iii) Constant region: A at position 149 to A at position 474    -   position 234 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: A at position 262    -   position 237 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: A at position 264    -   position 331 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: S at position 358

(3) DNA sequence of light chain (SEQ ID NO: 11)ATGGAAGCCC CAGCTCAGCT TCTCTTCCTC CTGCTACTCTGGCTCCCAGA TACCACCGGA GAAATTGTGT TGACACAGTCTCCAGCCACC CTGTCTTTGT CTCCAGGGGA AAGAGCCACCCTCTCCTGCA GGGCCAGTCA GAGTGTTAGC AGCTACTTAGCCTGGTACCA ACAGAAACCT GGCCAGGCTC CCAGGCTCCTCATCTATGAT GCATCCAACA GGGCCACTGG CATCCCAGCCAGGTTCAGTG GCAGTGGGTC TGGGACAGAC TTCACTCTCACCATCAGCAG CCTAGAGCCT GAAGATTTTG CAGTTTATTACTGTCAGCAG CGTAGCAACA CTTTCGGCCC TGGGACCAAAGTGGATATCA AACGTACGGT GGCTGCACCA TCTGTCTTCATCTTCCCGCC ATCTGATGAG CAGTTGAAAT CTGGAACTGCCTCTGTTGTG TGCCTGCTGA ATAACTTCTA TCCCAGAGAGGCCAAAGTAC AGTGGAAGGT GGATAACGCC CTCCAATCGGGTAACTCCCA GGAGAGTGTC ACAGAGCAGG ACAGCAAGGACAGCACCTAC AGCCTCAGCA GCACCCTGAC GCTGAGCAAAGCAGACTACG AGAAACACAA AGTCTACGCC TGCGAAGTCACCCATCAGGG CCTGAGCTCG CCCGTCACAA AGAGCTTCAA CAGGGGAGAG TGT(i) Signal: A at position 1 to A at position 60(ii) Variable region: G at position 61 to A at position 372

-   -   CDR1: A at position 130 to C at position 162    -   CDR2: A at position 208 to T at position 228    -   CDR3: C at position 325 to T at position 342        (iii) Constant region: C at position 373 to T at position 693

(4) Amino acid sequence of light chain (SEQ ID NO: 12)MEAPAQLLFL LLLWLPDTTG EIVLTQSPAT LSLSPGERATLSCRASQSVS SYLAWYQQKP GQAPRLLIYD ASNRATGIPARFSGSGSGTD FTLTISSLEP EDFAVYYCQQ RSNTFGPGTKVDIKRTVAAP SVFIFPPSDE QLKSGTASVV CLLNNFYPREAKVQWKVDNA LQSGNSQESV TEQDSKDSTY SLSSTLTLSKADYEKHKVYA CEVTHQGLSS PVTKSFNRGE C*(i) Signal: M at position 1 to G at position 20(ii) Variable region: E at position 21 to K at position 124

-   -   CDR1: R at position 44 to A at position 54    -   CDR2: D at position 70 to T at position 76    -   CDR3: Q at position 109 to T at position 114        (iii) Constant region: R at position 125 to C at position 231

2. IgG2-AAS (21.4.1) Antibody

(1) DNA sequence of heavy chain (SEQ ID NO: 21)ATGGACTGGA CCTGGAGGAT CCTCTTCTTG GTGGCAGCAGCCACAGGAGC CCACTCCCAG GTGCAGCTGG TGCAGTCTGGGGCTGAGGTG AAGAAGCCTG GGGCCTCAGT GAAGGTCTCCTGCAAGGCTT CTGGATACAC CTTCACCGGC TACTATATGCACTGGGTGCG ACAGGCCCCT GGACAAGGGC TTGAgtGGATGGGATGGATC AACCCTGACA GTGGTGGCAC AAACTATGCACAGAAGTTTC AGGGCAGGGT CACCATGACC AGGGACACGTCCATCAGCAC AGCCTACATG GAGCTGAACA GGCTGAGATCTGACGACACG GCCGTGTATT ACTGTGCGAG AGATCAGCCCCTAGGATATT GTACTAATGG TGTATGCTCC TACTTTGACTACTGGGGCCA GGGAACCCTG GTCACCGTCT CCTCAGCTAGCACCAAGGGC CCATCGGTCT TCCCCCTGGC GCCCTGCTCCAGGAGCACCT CCGAGAGCAC AGCGGCCCTG GGCTGCCTGGTCAAGGACTA CTTCCCCGAA CCGGTGACGG TGTCGTGGAACTCAGGCGCT CTGACCAGCG GCGTGCACAC CTTCCCAGCTGTCCTACAGT CCTCAGGACT CTACTCCCTC AGCAGCGTGGTGACCGTGCC CTCCAGCAAC TTCGGCACCC AGACCTACACCTGCAACGTA GATCACAAGC CCAGCAACAC CAAGGTGGACAAGACAGTTG AGCGCAAATG TTGTGTCGAG TGCCCACCGTGCCCAGCACC ACCTGCAGCA GCACCGTCAG TCTTCCTCTTCCCCCCAAAA CCCAAGGACA CCCTCATGAT CTCCCGGACCCCTGAGGTCA CGTGCGTGGT GGTGGACGTG AGCCACGAAGACCCCGAGGT CCAGTTCAAC TGGTACGTGG ACGGCGTGGAGGTGCATAAT GCCAAGACAA AGCCACGGGA GGAGCAGTTCAACAGCACGT TCCGTGTGGT CAGCGTCCTC ACCGTTGTGCACCAGGACTG GCTGAACGGC AAGGAGTACA AGTGCAAGGTCTCCAACAAA GGCCTCCCAG CCTCCATCGA GAAAACCATCTCCAAAACCA AAGGGCAGCC CCGAGAACCA CAGGTGTACACCCTGCCCCC ATCCCGGGAG GAGATGACCA AGAACCAGGTCAGCCTGACC TGCCTGGTCA AAGGCTTCTA CCCCAGCGACATCGCCGTGG AGTGGGAGAG CAATGGGCAG CCGGAGAACAACTACAAGAC CACACCTCCC ATGCTGGACT CCGACGGCTCCTTCTTCCTC TACAGCAAGC TCACCGTGGA CAAGAGCAGGTGGCAGCAGG GGAACGTCTT CTCATGCTCC GTGATGCATGAGGCTCTGCA CAACCACTAC ACGCAGAAGA GCCTCTCCCT GTCTCCGGGT AAA(i) Signal: A at position 1 to C at position 57(ii) Variable region: C at position 58 to A at position 435(iii) Constant region: G at position 436 to A at position 1413

-   -   position 234 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: G at position 775 to A at position 777    -   position 237 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: G at position 781 to A at position 783    -   position 331 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: T at position 1063 to C at position 1065

(2) Amino acid sequence of heavy chain (SEQ ID NO: 22)MDWTWRILFL VAAATGAHSQ VQLVQSGAEV KKPGASVKVSCKASGYTFTG YYMHWVRQAP GQGLEWMGWI NPDSGGTNYAQKFQGRVTMT RDTSISTAYM ELNRLRSDDT AVYYCARDQPLGYCTNGVCS YFDYWGQGTL VTVSSASTKG PSVFPLAPCSRSTSESTAAL GCLVKDYFPE PVTVSWNSGA LTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSL SSVVTVPSSN FGTQTYTCNV DHKPSNTKVDKTVERKCCVE CPPCPAPPAA APSVFLFPPK PKDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDV SHEDPEVQFN WYVDGVEVHN AKTKPREEQFNSTFRVVSVL TVVHQDWLNG KEYKCKVSNK GLPASIEKTISKTKGQPREP QVYTLPPSRE EMTKNQVSLT CLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQ PENNYKTTPP MLDSDGSFFL YSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCS VMHEALHNHY TQKSLSLSPG K*(i) Signal: M at position 1 to S at position 19(ii) Variable region: Q at position 20 to S at position 145(iii) Constant region: A at position 146 to K at position 471

-   -   position 234 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: A at position 259    -   position 237 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: A at position 261    -   position 331 which is indicated by the EU index as in Kabat et        al.: S at position 355

(3) DNA sequence of light chain (SEQ ID NO: 25)ATGAGGCTCC CTGCTCAGCT CCTGGGGCTC CTGCTGCTCTGGTTCCCAGG TTCCAGATGC GACATCCAGA TGACCCAGTCTCCATCTTCC GTGTCTGCAT CTGTAGGAGA CAGAGTCACCATCACTTGTC GGGCGAGTCA GGGTATTTAC AGCTGGTTAGCCTGGTATCA GCAGAAACCA GGGAAAGCCC CTAACCTCCTGATCTATACT GCATCCACTT TACAAAGTGG GGTCCCATCAAGGTTCAGCG GCAGTGGATC TGGGACAGAT TTCACTCTCACCATCAGCAG CCTGCAACCT GAAGATTTTG CAACTTACTATTGTCAACAG GCTAACATTT TCCCGCTCAC TTTCGGCGGAGGGACCAAGG TGGAGATCAA ACGTACGGTG GCTGCACCATCTGTCTTCAT CTTCCCGCCA TCTGATGAGC AGTTGAAATCTGGAACTGCC TCTGTTGTGT GCCTGCTGAA TAACTTCTATCCCAGAGAGG CCAAAGTACA GTGGAAGGTG GATAACGCCCTCCAATCGGG TAACTCCCAG GAGAGTGTCA CAGAGCAGGACAGCAAGGAC AGCACCTACA GCCTCAGCAG CACCCTGACGCTGAGCAAAG CAGACTACGA GAAACACAAA GTCTACGCCTGCGAAGTCAC CCATCAGGGC CTGAGCTCGC CCGTCACAAA GAGCTTCAAC AGGGGAGAGT GT(i) Signal: A at position 1 to C at position 60(ii) Variable region: G at position 61 to T at position 384(iii) Constant region: A at position 385 to T at position 702

(4) Amino acid sequence of light chain (SEQ ID NO: 26)MRLPAQLLGL LLLWFPGSRC DIQMTQSPSS VSASVGDRVTITCRASQGIY SWLAWYQQKP GKAPNLLIYT ASTLQSGVPSRFSGSGSGTD FTLTISSLQP EDFATYYCQQ ANIFPLTFGGGTKVEIKRTV AAPSVFIFPP SDEQLKSGTA SVVCLLNNFYPREAKVQWKV DNALQSGNSQ ESVTEQDSKD STYSLSSTLTLSKADYEKHK VYACEVTHQG LSSPVTKSFN RGEC*(i) Signal: M at position 1 to C at position 20(ii) Variable region: D at position 21 to R at position 128(iii) Constant region: T at position 129 to C at position 234

The present invention is described below by Examples; however, thepresent invention is not limited to the following Examples.

Example 1 Construction of Expression Vector

Among anti-CD40 antibodies described in WO02/088186, a DNA fragmentcomprising a DNA (SEQ ID NO:3) of a heavy chain variable region of anantibody (hereinafter, referred to as “antibody 341-1-19”) produced by ahybridoma KM341-1-19 (Accession No. BP-7759), and a DNA fragmentcomprising a DNA (SEQ ID NO:13) of a light chain variable region of theantibody each was constructed.

Similarly, among anti-CD40 antibodies described in WO03/040170, a DNAfragment comprising a DNA (SEQ ID NO:23) of a heavy chain variableregion of 21.4.1 (hereinafter, referred to as “antibody 21.4.1”), and aDNA fragment comprising a DNA (SEQ ID NO:27) of a light chain variableregion of the antibody each was constructed.

A DNA fragment was constructed so as to contain a DNA (hereinafter,referred to as “IgG2-AAS/DNA”) with addition of a stop codon TGA to aDNA (SEQ ID NO:29) encoding IgG2 in which valine at position 234,glutamine at position 237 and proline at position 331 were substitutedwith alanine, alanine and proline, respectively, (numbering is based onthe EU index of Kabat et al). Then, the resulting DNA fragment wasintroduced into N5KG2-Val Lark vector (IDEC Pharmaceuticals, hereinafterreferred to as “N5KG2 vector”) having an IgG2 constant region. That is,a DNA fragment comprising IgG2-AAS/DNA was cleaved from the above DNAfragment using NheI and BamHI, and was substituted with a DNA encodingan IgG2 constant region of N5KG2 vector. The resulting expression vectorwas designated as N5KG2N234A/G237A/P331S vector. Further, N5KG2-Val Larkvector comprising a DNA (hereinafter, referred to as IgG2-S/DNA) inwhich a stop codon TGA was added to a DNA (SEQ ID NO:31) encoding IgG2in which proline at position 331 was substituted with serine (numberingis based on the EU index of Kabat et al.) was constructed according tothe method described in WO05/063981. That is, a DNA fragment comprisingIgG2-S/DNA was constructed, and a DNA fragment comprising IgG2-S/DNA wascleaved therefrom using NheI and BamHI, followed by substitution with aDNA encoding an IgG2 constant region of N5KG2 vector. The resultingexpression vector was designated as an N5KG2/P331S vector.

These N5KG2N234A/G237A/P331S vector and N5KG2/P331S vector were digestedwith BglII and BsiWI, respectively, and then the DNA fragment comprisinga DNA of a light chain variable region of antibody 341-1-19 was insertedthereinto. Next, the obtained vectors were digested with SalI and NheIand then the DNA fragment comprising a DNA of a heavy chain variableregion of antibody 341-1-19 was inserted thereinto. Finally, expressionvectors which comprised a variable region of antibody 341-1-19, and aheavy chain constant region which was IgG2 in which valine at position234, glutamine at position 237 and proline at position 331 weresubstituted with alanine, alanine and proline, respectively, (numberingis based on the EU index of Kabat et al.) or was IgG2 in which prolineat position 331 was substituted with serine (numbering is based on theEU index of Kabat et al) were completed (each of them was designated asN5KG2N234A/G237A/P331S-341 vector and N5KG2/P331S-341 vector).

Furthermore, N5KG2_V234A_G237A_P331S and N5KG2_P331S vector weredigested with BglII and BsiWI, respectively, and then the DNA fragmentcomprising a DNA encoding a light chain variable region of antibody21.4.1 and DNA fragment comprising a DNA encoding a heavy chain variableregion of the antibody 21.4.1 were inserted into the obtained vectorsimilarly to thereby complete the expression vectors (they weredesignated as N5KG2N234A/G237A/P3315-21.4.1 vector andN5KG2/P331S-21.4.1 vector, respectively).

Example 2 Expression and Purification of Antibody

The expression vector constructed in Example 1 was purified using anEndoFree Plasmid Kit (Qiagen). This expression vector was introducedinto suspended 293 cells (Invitrogen Life Technologies) using aFreeStyle™ 293 Expression System (Invitrogen Life Technologies) andtransiently expressed thereby to obtain a culture supernatant containingeach antibody. The culture supernatant (about 500 μg in terms of IgG)was filtered through a membrane filter (manufactured by Millipore) witha pore size of 0.22 μm and then charged into a HiTrap rProtein A FF(column volume: 1 mL) (Amersham Biosciences) which is an affinity columnfor antibody purification. After washing the column with PBS(−), theantibodies were eluted with 20 mM citrate buffer (pH 3.4) and recoveredin a tube containing 200 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). The antibodiesobtained from the cells into which each of N5KG2N234A/G237A/P331S-341vector, N5KG2/P331S-341 vector, N5KG2N234A/G237A/P331S-21.4.1 vector andN5KG2/P331S-21.4.1 vector was introduced were designated asIgG2-AAS(341) antibody, IgG2-S(341) antibody, IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodyand IgG2-S(21.4.1) antibody, respectively.

Example 3 Binding Activity of Antibody

In order to investigate whether each of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody,IgG2-S(341) antibody, IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody, and IgG2-S(21.4.1)antibody obtained in Example 2 binds to human CD40, a binding activityof the antibody to Ramos cell (ATCC CRL-1596) which expresses human CD40was measured.

The Ramos cell line was suspended in staining buffer (SB) of PBScontaining 0.1% NaN₃, 2 mM EDTA, and 2% FCS at a density of 2×10⁻⁶cells/mL. The cell suspension (100 μL/well) was dispensed into a 96-wellround-bottom plate (manufactured by Becton Dickinson). The purifiedantibody (50 μL) was added thereto, followed by incubation at icetemperature for 30 minutes. As negative control, an anti-human IgG2antibody against 2,4-dinitrophenol was used and the purified antibodies(50 μL) were similarly added, followed by incubation at ice temperaturefor 15 minutes. After the cells were washed with SB, 50 μL of 250-folddiluted R-PE fluorescence-labeled anti-human antibodies (manufactured bySouthern Biotechnology) was added thereto, followed by incubation at icetemperature for 15 minutes. The cells were washed twice with SB andsuspended in 300 to 500 μL of FACS buffer. And the fluorescenceintensity (MFI) of individual cells was measured by FACS (FACScalibur,manufactured by Becton Dickinson).

As a result, it was found that all of the antibodies bind to human CD40(FIGS. 1A and 1B).

Example 4 Agonist Activity of Antibody

Both antibody KM341-1-19 and antibody 21.4.1 are known as an agonisticantibody. Therefore, the effect on an agonist activity due to thedifference of a heavy chain constant region was examined. It was foundthat the expression of CD95 was elevated by adding CD40 ligand to Ramoscells. Accordingly, by adding the antibody instead of CD40 ligand, anagonist activity of the antibodies was evaluated using CD95 expressionby the antibodies as an indicator.

First, 1.0×10⁻⁶ cells/mL of Ramos cells were suspended in an RPMI1640medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, and seeded into a 96-wellplate at 50 μL/well. The purified antibodies were added to a 96-wellplate at 50 μL/well. After culturing overnight at 37° C. in the presenceof 5% CO₂, the cells were recovered and analyzed by FACS in the samemanner as in Example 3, using R-PE labeled anti-CD95 antibodies(manufactured by Pharmingen, N.J.).

As a result, both of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody and IgG2-AAS(21.4.1)antibody exhibited a remarkably higher agonist activity than referenceantibodies, IgG2-S(341) antibody and IgG2-S(21.4.1) antibody (FIGS. 2Aand 2B).

Example 5 Blood Residence Time of Antibodies

In order to examine blood residence time in the living body of theIgG2-AAS(341) antibody and IgG2-S(341) antibody prepared in Example 2,each of these antibodies was intravenously administrated to Macacafascicularis and the drug concentration in serum was periodicallymeasured.

The IgG2-AAS(341) antibody or IgG2-S(341) antibody (1 mg/kg) wasintravenously administered. Blood samples were collected from a veinbefore the administration and after the administration, allowed tostands still at room temperature for 20 to 60 minutes and thencentrifuged (room temperature, 3000 rpm, 15 minutes) to obtain serawhich were preserved in an ultra-low temperature freezer during a perioduntil measurement.

The drug concentration in serum was measured by the ELISA method. Ahuman CD40-human Fc fusion protein (prepared by making reference toExample 1 of the specification of WO02/088186) was diluted with Trisbuffered saline (SIGMA Cat # T6664) to give a concentration of 1 μg/ml,100 μl of the obtained solution was added to each well of Immuno Plate(Greiner Cat #675097), and then incubated overnight at 4° C. Thesolution in wells was discarded and moisture therein was thoroughlyremoved. After adding 300 μl of Tris buffered saline containing 1% BSA(SIGMA Cat # A7638), incubation was carried out overnight at 4° C. Amonkey serum was diluted 20 times with Tris buffered saline containing1% BSA. The solution in wells was discarded, moisture therein wasthoroughly removed, and 100 μl of the above-mentioned diluted serum wasadded to each well and incubated overnight at 4° C. Each well was washed5 times with 300 μl of Tris buffered saline containing 0.1% Tween 20 and0.5 mol/l of NaCl and the moisture was thoroughly removed. Anti-HumanKappa Light Chain Goat IgG-Biotin (Immuno-Biological Laboratories Co.,Ltd., Cat #17249) was diluted to 20 ng/ml with Tris buffered salinecontaining 1% BSA, 100 μl of the obtained solution was added to eachwell and then allowed to stand still at room temperature for about 2hours. One drop of each of the reagent A and reagent B attached to theStreptavidine-ABComplex/AP (DACO Cat # K0391) was added to 5 ml of 50mmol/l Tris-HCl (pH 7.6) and then allowed to stand still in a cold anddark place for 30 minutes or more. This solution was diluted 51-foldwith Sample diluent Buffer. Each well was washed 5 times with 300 μl ofTris buffered saline containing 0.1% Tween 20 and 0.5 mol/l of NaCl andthe moisture was thoroughly removed. To each well, 100 μl of theabove-mentioned Streptavidine-ABComplex/AP dilution liquid was added andthen allowed to stand still at room temperature for about 1 hour. Eachwell was washed 5 times with 300 μl of Tris buffered saline containing0.1% Tween 20 and 0.5 mol/l of NaCl and the moisture was thoroughlyremoved. The Lumi-phos 530 (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., Cat#537-24662) was diluted two-fold with an aqueous solution (pH 10)containing 0.1% diethanolamine (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., Cat#093-03115), 1 mmol/1MgCl₂ and 0.02% NaN₃, and 100 μl the obtainedsolution was added to each well. After mixing for about 15 seconds usinga plate shaker, the solution was incubated at 30° C. for 20 minutes. Bymeasuring chemiluminescence intensity, the antibody concentration wasdetermined. In this connection, temperature of the plate reader was setto 30° C. during the measurement.

As a result, it was found that blood residence time of the IgG2-AAS(341)antibody was prolonged in comparison with the IgG2-S(341) antibody (FIG.3).

Example 6 Blood Biochemical Parameters after Antibody Administration

In order to examine influences of the IgG2-AAS(341) antibody andIgG2-S(341) antibody prepared in Example 2 upon blood biochemicalparameters in the individuals to which the antibody was administrated,each of these antibodies was intravenously administrated to a human CD40BAC transgenic mouse and the antibody concentration in serum wasperiodically measured.

Firstly, human CD40 BAC transgenic mice were prepared. A cyclic BAC(bacterial artificial chromosome) clone comprising a human CD40 gene waspurified by an anionic ion exchange column (MACHEREY-NAGEL; #740579),and the DNA solution was micro-injected into the fertilized eggpronucleus of C57BL/6J Jcl mouse (CLEA Japan Inc). Individuals wereprepared by transplanting the DNA-injected fertilized egg to an oviductof a female mouse in a state of pseudopregnancy. The tip of tail of eachof the thus obtained individuals was digested overnight with a proteaseK/SDS and then a genomic DNA was prepared by phenol chloroformextraction and ethanol precipitation. A portion of the human CD40 generegion was amplified by PCR using the thus obtained genomic DNA as atemplate, and an individual having the human CD40 gene was selected.Using a heparin-coated capillary, 50 μl of the peripheral blood of thismouse was collected, mixed with 10 μl of PE-labeled anti-human CD40antibody (Beckman Coulter; IM1936U) and incubated under ice temperaturefor 15 minutes. Thereafter, by carrying out hemolysis and immobilizationusing FACS Lysing Solution (BD), fluorescence was measured by FACS(FACScalibur, Becton Dickinson). As a result, it was found that thehuman CD40 was expressed in B cells, mononuclear cells and plateletswhich are generally known to express CD40.

Next, the IgG2-AAS(341) antibody or IgG2-S(341) antibody was dilutedwith phosphate buffer and administered to a human CD40 BAC transgenicmouse (four animals for each antibody) through a caudal vein (10 μg/head(a solution of 50 μg/ml was administered at a dose of 200 μl/head)).Blood samples were collected from veins at points of before theadministration and 15 hour, 24 hours and 39 hours after theadministration. Blood sera were obtained by carrying out centrifugation(room temperature, 9000 rpm, 2 minutes). The thus obtained sera werepreserved in an ultra-low temperature freezer during the period untilmeasurement. Each serum was diluted 50-fold with phosphate buffer, andAST and ALT were measured using TA-LN KAINOS (KAINOS Laboratories Inc.,Cat # TDR5100) by the methods described in the attached documents.

As a result, it was found that concentrations of AST and ALT are loweredby the IgG2-AAS(341) antibody in comparison with the IgG2-S(341)antibody (FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B).

Example 7 Growth Inhibitory Activity of Antibody for Tumor Cell

T24 cells (ATCC # HTB-4) were adjusted to give a density of 1.0×10⁵cells/ml using RPMI 1640 medium (GIBCO Cat #31800105) containing 10%fetal bovine serum (Invitrogen Cat #10099-141) and dispensed into a96-well plate at 50 μl/well. The IgG2-AAS(341) antibody prepared inExample 2 was diluted, added to the 96-well plate at 50 μl/well andcultured at 37° C. for 3 days in the presence of 5% CO₂. Cell Titer-GloLuminescent Cell Viability Assay (Promega Cat # G7570) was added theretoat 100 μl/well and allowed to stand still at room temperature for 10minutes. The emission signal was measured using SpectraMax M5, and ratioof the number of survived cells at each concentration was calculated byregarding the number of survived cells when the antibody was not addedas 100%. As a result, it was found that the IgG2-AAS(341) antibodyinhibited growth of the T24 cells in a concentration dependent manner.

The partial DNA sequences and amino acid sequences of the antibody ofthe present invention are described below.

DNA sequence of the heavy chain of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 1)ATGTCTGTCT CCTTCCTCAT CTTCCTGCCC GTGCTGGGCCTCCCATGGGG TGTCCTGTCA CAGGTCCAAC TGCAGCAGTCAGGTCCAGGA CTGGTGAAGC CCTCGCAGAC CCTCTCACTCACCTGTGCCA TCTCCGGGGA CAGTGTCTCT AGCAACAGTGCTACTTGGAA CTGGATCAGG CAGTCCCCAT CGAGAGACCTTGAGTGGCTG GGAAGGACAT ACTACAGGTC CAAGTGGTATCGTGATTATG TAGGATCTGT GAAAAGTCGA ATAATCATCAACCCAGACAC ATCCAACAAC CAGTTCTCCC TGCAGCTGAACTCTGTGACT CCCGAGGACA CGGCTATATA TTACTGTACAAGAGCACAGT GGCTGGGAGG GGATTACCCC TACTACTACAGTATGGACGT CTGGGGCCAA GGGACCACGG TCACCGTCTCCTCAGCTAGC ACCAAGGGCC CATCGGTCTT CCCCCTGGCGCCCTGCTCCA GGAGCACCTC CGAGAGCACA GCGGCCCTGGGCTGCCTGGT CAAGGACTAC TTCCCCGAAC CGGTGACGGTGTCGTGGAAC TCAGGCGCTC TGACCAGCGG CGTGCACACCTTCCCAGCTG TCCTACAGTC CTCAGGACTC TACTCCCTCAGCAGCGTGGT GACCGTGCCC TCCAGCAACT TCGGCACCCAGACCTACACC TGCAACGTAG ATCACAAGCC CAGCAACACCAAGGTGGACA AGACAGTTGA GCGCAAATGT TGTGTCGAGTGCCCACCGTG CCCAGCACCA CCTGCAGCAG CACCGTCAGTCTTCCTCTTC CCCCCAAAAC CCAAGGACAC CCTCATGATCTCCCGGACCC CTGAGGTCAC GTGCGTGGTG GTGGACGTGAGCCACGAAGA CCCCGAGGTC CAGTTCAACT GGTACGTGGACGGCGTGGAG GTGCATAATG CCAAGACAAA GCCACGGGAGGAGCAGTTCA ACAGCACGTT CCGTGTGGTC AGCGTCCTCACCGTTGTGCA CCAGGACTGG CTGAACGGCA AGGAGTACAAGTGCAAGGTC TCCAACAAAG GCCTCCCAGC CTCCATCGAGAAAACCATCT CCAAAACCAA AGGGCAGCCC CGAGAACCACAGGTGTACAC CCTGCCCCCA TCCCGGGAGG AGATGACCAAGAACCAGGTC AGCCTGACCT GCCTGGTCAA AGGCTTCTACCCCAGCGACA TCGCCGTGGA GTGGGAGAGC AATGGGCAGCCGGAGAACAA CTACAAGACC ACACCTCCCA TGCTGGACTCCGACGGCTCC TTCTTCCTCT ACAGCAAGCT CACCGTGGACAAGAGCAGGT GGCAGCAGGG GAACGTCTTC TCATGCTCCGTGATGCATGA GGCTCTGCAC AACCACTACA CGCAGAAGAG CCTCTCCCTG TCTCCGGGTA AAAmino Acid sequence of the heavy chain of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody(SEQ ID NO: 2) MSVSFLIFLP VLGLPWGVLS QVQLQQSGPG LVKPSQTLSLTCAISGDSVS SNSATWNWIR QSPSRDLEWL GRTYYRSKWYRDYVGSVKSR IIINPDTSNN QFSLQLNSVT PEDTAIYYCTRAQWLGGDYP YYYSMDVWGQ GTTVTVSSAS TKGPSVFPLAPCSRSTSEST AALGCLVKDY FPEPVTVSWN SGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGL YSLSSVVTVP SSNFGTQTYT CNVDHKPSNTKVDKTVERKC CVECPPCPAP PAAAPSVFLF PPKPKDTLMISRTPEVTCVV VDVSHEDPEV QFNWYVDGVE VHNAKTKPREEQFNSTFRVV SVLTVVHQDW LNGKEYKCKV SNKGLPASIEKTISKTKGQP REPQVYTLPP SREEMTKNQV SLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWES NGQPENNYKT TPPMLDSDGS FFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVF SCSVMHEALH NHYTQKSLSL SPGKDNA sequence of the heavy chain variable regionof IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 3)CAGGTCCAAC TGCAGCAGTC AGGTCCAGGA CTGGTGAAGCCCTCGCAGAC CCTCTCACTC ACCTGTGCCA TCTCCGGGGACAGTGTCTCT AGCAACAGTG CTACTTGGAA CTGGATCAGGCAGTCCCCAT CGAGAGACCT TGAGTGGCTG GGAAGGACATACTACAGGTC CAAGTGGTAT CGTGATTATG TAGGATCTGTGAAAAGTCGA ATAATCATCA ACCCAGACAC ATCCAACAACCAGTTCTCCC TGCAGCTGAA CTCTGTGACT CCCGAGGACACGGCTATATA TTACTGTACA AGAGCACAGT GGCTGGGAGGGGATTACCCC TACTACTACA GTATGGACGT CTGGGGCCAA GGGACCACGG TCACCGTCTC CTCAAmino acid sequence of the heavy chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 4)QVQLQQSGPG LVKPSQTLSL TCAISGDSVS SNSATWNWIRQSPSRDLEWL GRTYYRSKWY RDYVGSVKSR IIINPDTSNNQFSLQLNSVT PEDTAIYYCT RAQWLGGDYP YYYSMDVWGQ GTTVTVSSRDNA sequence of CDR1 of the heavy chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 5) AGCAACAGTG CTACTTGGAA CAmino acid sequence of CDR1 of the heavy chainvariable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 6) SNSATWNDNA sequence of CDR2 of the heavy chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 7)AGGACAT ACTACAGGTC CAAGTGGTAT CGTGATTATG TAGGATCTGT GAAAAGTAmino acid sequence of CDR2 of the heavy chainvariable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 8)RTYYRSKWY RDYVGSVKS DNA sequence of CDR3 of the heavy chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 9)GCACAGT GGCTGGGAGG GGATTACCCC TACTACTACA GTATGGACGT CAmino acid sequence of CDR3 of the heavy chainvariable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 10)AQWLGGDYP YYYSMDV DNA sequence of the light chain of IgG2-AAS(341)antibody (SEQ ID NO: 11) ATGGAAGCCC CAGCTCAGCT TCTCTTCCTC CTGCTACTCTGGCTCCCAGA TACCACCGGA GAAATTGTGT TGACACAGTCTCCAGCCACC CTGTCTTTGT CTCCAGGGGA AAGAGCCACCCTCTCCTGCA GGGCCAGTCA GAGTGTTAGC AGCTACTTAGCCTGGTACCA ACAGAAACCT GGCCAGGCTC CCAGGCTCCTCATCTATGAT GCATCCAACA GGGCCACTGG CATCCCAGCCAGGTTCAGTG GCAGTGGGTC TGGGACAGAC TTCACTCTCACCATCAGCAG CCTAGAGCCT GAAGATTTTG CAGTTTATTACTGTCAGCAG CGTAGCAACA CTTTCGGCCC TGGGACCAAAGTGGATATCA AACGTACGGT GGCTGCACCA TCTGTCTTCATCTTCCCGCC ATCTGATGAG CAGTTGAAAT CTGGAACTGCCTCTGTTGTG TGCCTGCTGA ATAACTTCTA TCCCAGAGAGGCCAAAGTAC AGTGGAAGGT GGATAACGCC CTCCAATCGGGTAACTCCCA GGAGAGTGTC ACAGAGCAGG ACAGCAAGGACAGCACCTAC AGCCTCAGCA GCACCCTGAC GCTGAGCAAAGCAGACTACG AGAAACACAA AGTCTACGCC TGCGAAGTCACCCATCAGGG CCTGAGCTCG CCCGTCACAA AGAGCTTCAA CAGGGGAGAG TGTAmino Acid sequence of the light chain of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody(SEQ ID NO: 12) MEAPAQLLFL LLLWLPDTTG EIVLTQSPAT LSLSPGERATLSCRASQSVS SYLAWYQQKP GQAPRLLIYD ASNRATGIPARFSGSGSGTD FTLTISSLEP EDFAVYYCQQ RSNTFGPGTKVDIKRTVAAP SVFIFPPSDE QLKSGTASVV CLLNNFYPREAKVQWKVDNA LQSGNSQESV TEQDSKDSTY SLSSTLTLSKADYEKHKVYA CEVTHQGLSS PVTKSFNRGE CDNA sequence of the light chain variable regionof IgG2-AAS(34l) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 13)GAAATTGTGT TGACACAGTC TCCAGCCACC CTGTCTTTGTCTCCAGGGGA AAGAGCCACC CTCTCCTGCA GGGCCAGTCAGAGTGTTAGC AGCTACTTAG CCTGGTACCA ACAGAAACCTGGCCAGGCTC CCAGGCTCCT CATCTATGAT GCATCCAACAGGGCCACTGG CATCCCAGCC AGGTTCAGTG GCAGTGGGTCTGGGACAGAC TTCACTCTCA CCATCAGCAG CCTAGAGCCTGAAGATTTTG CAGTTTATTA CTGTCAGCAG CGTAGCAACACTTTCGGCCC TGGGACCAAA GTGGATATCA AAAmino acid sequence of the light chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 14)EIVLTQSPAT LSLSPGERAT LSCRASQSVS SYLAWYQQKPGQAPRLLIYD ASNRATGIPA RFSGSGSGTD FTLTISSLEP EDFAVYYCQQ RSNTFGPGTK VDIKDNA sequence of CDR1 of the light chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 15)A GGGCCAGTCA GAGTGTTAGC AGCTACTTAG CCAmino acid sequence of CDR1 of the light chainvariable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 16) RASQSVS SYLADNA sequence of CDR2 of the light chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 17) GAT GCATCCAACA GGGCCACTAmino acid sequence of CDR2 of the light chainvariable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 18) D ASNRATDNA sequence of CDR3 of the light chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 19) CAGCAG CGTAGCAACA CTAmino acid sequence of CDR3 of the light chainvariable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 20) QQ RSNTDNA sequence of the heavy chain of IgG2-AAS (21.4.1) antibody(SEQ ID NO: 21) ATGGACTGGA CCTGGAGGAT CCTCTTCTTG GTGGCAGCAGCCACAGGAGC CCACTCCCAG GTGCAGCTGG TGCAGTCTGGGGCTGAGGTG AAGAAGCCTG GGGCCTCAGT GAAGGTCTCCTGCAAGGCTT CTGGATACAC CTTCACCGGC TACTATATGCACTGGGTGCG ACAGGCCCCT GGACAAGGGC TTGAgtGGATGGGATGGATC AACCCTGACA GTGGTGGCAC AAACTATGCACAGAAGTTTC AGGGCAGGGT CACCATGACC AGGGACACGTCCATCAGCAC AGCCTACATG GAGCTGAACA GGCTGAGATCTGACGACACG GCCGTGTATT ACTGTGCGAG AGATCAGCCCCTAGGATATT GTACTAATGG TGTATGCTCC TACTTTGACTACTGGGGCCA GGGAACCCTG GTCACCGTCT CCTCAGCTAGCACCAAGGGC CCATCGGTCT TCCCCCTGGC GCCCTGCTCCAGGAGCACCT CCGAGAGCAC AGCGGCCCTG GGCTGCCTGGTCAAGGACTA CTTCCCCGAA CCGGTGACGG TGTCGTGGAACTCAGGCGCT CTGACCAGCG GCGTGCACAC CTTCCCAGCTGTCCTACAGT CCTCAGGACT CTACTCCCTC AGCAGCGTGGTGACCGTGCC CTCCAGCAAC TTCGGCACCC AGACCTACACCTGCAACGTA GATCACAAGC CCAGCAACAC CAAGGTGGACAAGACAGTTG AGCGCAAATG TTGTGTCGAG TGCCCACCGTGCCCAGCACC ACCTGCAGCA GCACCGTCAG TCTTCCTCTTCCCCCCAAAA CCCAAGGACA CCCTCATGAT CTCCCGGACCCCTGAGGTCA CGTGCGTGGT GGTGGACGTG AGCCACGAAGACCCCGAGGT CCAGTTCAAC TGGTACGTGG ACGGCGTGGAGGTGCATAAT GCCAAGACAA AGCCACGGGA GGAGCAGTTCAACAGCACGT TCCGTGTGGT CAGCGTCCTC ACCGTTGTGCACCAGGACTG GCTGAACGGC AAGGAGTACA AGTGCAAGGTCTCCAACAAA GGCCTCCCAG CCTCCATCGA GAAAACCATCTCCAAAACCA AAGGGCAGCC CCGAGAACCA CAGGTGTACACCCTGCCCCC ATCCCGGGAG GAGATGACCA AGAACCAGGTCAGCCTGACC TGCCTGGTCA AAGGCTTCTA CCCCAGCGACATCGCCGTGG AGTGGGAGAG CAATGGGCAG CCGGAGAACAACTACAAGAC CACACCTCCC ATGCTGGACT CCGACGGCTCCTTCTTCCTC TACAGCAAGC TCACCGTGGA CAAGAGCAGGTGGCAGCAGG GGAACGTCTT CTCATGCTCC GTGATGCATGAGGCTCTGCA CAACCACTAC ACGCAGAAGA GCCTCTCCCT GTCTCCGGGT AAAAmino Acid sequence of the heavy chain of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody(SEQ ID NO: 22) MDWTWRILFL VAAATGAHSQ VQLVQSGAEV KKPGASVKVSCKASGYTFTG YYMHWVRQAP GQGLEWMGWI NPDSGGTNYAQKFQGRVTMT RDTSISTAYM ELNRLRSDDT AVYYCARDQPLGYCTNGVCS YFDYWGQGTL VTVSSASTKG PSVFPLAPCSRSTSESTAAL GCLVKDYFPE PVTVSWNSGA LTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSL SSVVTVPSSN FGTQTYTCNV DHKPSNTKVDKTVERKCCVE CPPCPAPPAA APSVFLFPPK PKDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDV SHEDPEVQFN WYVDGVEVHN AKTKPREEQFNSTFRVVSVL TVVHQDWLNG KEYKCKVSNK GLPASIEKTISKTKGQPREP QVYTLPPSRE EMTKNQVSLT CLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQ PENNYKTTPP MLDSDGSFFL YSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCS VMHEALHNHY TQKSLSLSPG KDNA sequence of the heavy chain variable regionof IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 23) CAGGTGCAGCTGG TGCAGTCTGG GGCTGAGGTG AAGAAGCCTGGGGCCTCAGT GAAGGTCTCC TGCAAGGCTT CTGGATACACCTTCACCGGC TACTATATGC ACTGGGTGCG ACAGGCCCCTGGACAAGGGC TTGAgtGGAT GGGATGGATC AACCCTGACAGTGGTGGCAC AAACTATGCA CAGAAGTTTC AGGGCAGGGTCACCATGACC AGGGACACGT CCATCAGCAC AGCCTACATGGAGCTGAACA GGCTGAGATC TGACGACACG GCCGTGTATTACTGTGCGAG AGATCAGCCC CTAGGATATT GTACTAATGGTGTATGCTCC TACTTTGACT ACTGGGGCCA GGGAACCCTG GTCACCGTCT CCTCAAmino acid sequence of the light chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 24)Q VQLVQSGAEV KKPGASVKVS CKASGYTFTG YYMHWVRQAPGQGLEWMGWI NPDSGGTNYA QKFQGRVTMT RDTSISTAYMELNRLRSDDT AVYYCARDQP LGYCTNGVCS YFDYWGQGTL VTVSSDNA sequence of the light chain of IgG2-AAS (21.4.1) antibody(SEQ ID NO: 25) ATGAGGCTCC CTGCTCAGCT CCTGGGGCTC CTGCTGCTCTGGTTCCCAGG TTCCAGATGC GACATCCAGA TGACCCAGTCTCCATCTTCC GTGTCTGCAT CTGTAGGAGA CAGAGTCACCATCACTTGTC GGGCGAGTCA GGGTATTTAC AGCTGGTTAGCCTGGTATCA GCAGAAACCA GGGAAAGCCC CTAACCTCCTGATCTATACT GCATCCACTT TACAAAGTGG GGTCCCATCAAGGTTCAGCG GCAGTGGATC TGGGACAGAT TTCACTCTCACCATCAGCAG CCTGCAACCT GAAGATTTTG CAACTTACTATTGTCAACAG GCTAACATTT TCCCGCTCAC TTTCGGCGGAGGGACCAAGG TGGAGATCAA ACGTACGGTG GCTGCACCATCTGTCTTCAT CTTCCCGCCA TCTGATGAGC AGTTGAAATCTGGAACTGCC TCTGTTGTGT GCCTGCTGAA TAACTTCTATCCCAGAGAGG CCAAAGTACA GTGGAAGGTG GATAACGCCCTCCAATCGGG TAACTCCCAG GAGAGTGTCA CAGAGCAGGACAGCAAGGAC AGCACCTACA GCCTCAGCAG CACCCTGACGCTGAGCAAAG CAGACTACGA GAAACACAAA GTCTACGCCTGCGAAGTCAC CCATCAGGGC CTGAGCTCGC CCGTCACAAA GAGCTTCAAC AGGGGAGAGT GTAmino Acid sequence of the light chain of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody(SEQ ID NO: 26) MRLPAQLLGL LLLWFPGSRC DIQMTQSPSS VSASVGDRVTITCRASQGIY SWLAWYQQKP GKAPNLLIYT ASTLQSGVPSRFSGSGSGTD FTLTISSLQP EDFATYYCQQ ANIFPLTFGGGTKVEIKRTV AAPSVFIFPP SDEQLKSGTA SVVCLLNNFYPREAKVQWKV DNALQSGNSQ ESVTEQDSKD STYSLSSTLTLSKADYEKHK VYACEVTHQG LSSPVTKSFN RGECDNA sequence of the light chain variable regionof IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 27)GACATCCAGA TGACCCAGTC TCCATCTTCC GTGTCTGCATCTGTAGGAGA CAGAGTCACC ATCACTTGTC GGGCGAGTCAGGGTATTTAC AGCTGGTTAG CCTGGTATCA GCAGAAACCAGGGAAAGCCC CTAACCTCCT GATCTATACT GCATCCACTTTACAAAGTGG GGTCCCATCA AGGTTCAGCG GCAGTGGATCTGGGACAGAT TTCACTCTCA CCATCAGCAG CCTGCAACCTGAAGATTTTG CAACTTACTA TTGTCAACAG GCTAACATTTTCCCGCTCAC TTTCGGCGGA GGGACCAAGG TGGAGATCAA ACGTAmino acid sequence of the light chain variableregion of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 28)DIQMTQSPSS VSASVGDRVT ITCRASQGIY SWLAWYQQKPGKAPNLLIYT ASTLQSGVPS RFSGSGSGTD FTLTISSLQPEDFATYYCQQ ANIFPLTFGG GTKVEIKRDNA sequence of the heavy chain constant regionof IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 29)GCTAGC ACCAAGGGCC CATCGGTCTT CCCCCTGGCG CCCTGCTCCAGGAGCACCTC CGAGAGCACA GCGGCCCTGG GCTGCCTGGTCAAGGACTAC TTCCCCGAAC CGGTGACGGT GTCGTGGAACTCAGGCGCTC TGACCAGCGG CGTGCACACC TTCCCAGCTGTCCTACAGTC CTCAGGACTC TACTCCCTCA GCAGCGTGGTGACCGTGCCC TCCAGCAACT TCGGCACCCA GACCTACACCTGCAACGTAG ATCACAAGCC CAGCAACACC AAGGTGGACAAGACAGTTGA GCGCAAATGT TGTGTCGAGT GCCCACCGTGCCCAGCACCA CCTGCAGCAG CACCGTCAGT CTTCCTCTTCCCCCCAAAAC CCAAGGACAC CCTCATGATC TCCCGGACCCCTGAGGTCAC GTGCGTGGTG GTGGACGTGA GCCACGAAGACCCCGAGGTC CAGTTCAACT GGTACGTGGA CGGCGTGGAGGTGCATAATG CCAAGACAAA GCCACGGGAG GAGCAGTTCAACAGCACGTT CCGTGTGGTC AGCGTCCTCA CCGTTGTGCACCAGGACTGG CTGAACGGCA AGGAGTACAA GTGCAAGGTCTCCAACAAAG GCCTCCCAGC CTCCATCGAG AAAACCATCTCCAAAACCAA AGGGCAGCCC CGAGAACCAC AGGTGTACACCCTGCCCCCA TCCCGGGAGG AGATGACCAA GAACCAGGTCAGCCTGACCT GCCTGGTCAA AGGCTTCTAC CCCAGCGACATCGCCGTGGA GTGGGAGAGC AATGGGCAGC CGGAGAACAACTACAAGACC ACACCTCCCA TGCTGGACTC CGACGGCTCCTTCTTCCTCT ACAGCAAGCT CACCGTGGAC AAGAGCAGGTGGCAGCAGGG GAACGTCTTC TCATGCTCCG TGATGCATGAGGCTCTGCAC AACCACTACA CGCAGAAGAG CCTCTCCCTG TCTCCGGGTA AAAmino acid sequence of the heavy chain constantregion of IgG2-AAS(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 30)ASTKG PSVFPLAPCS RSTSESTAAL GCLVKDYFPE PVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPA VLQSSGLYSL SSVVTVPSSN FGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVD KTVERKCCVE CPPCPAPPAA APSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRT PEVTCVVVDV SHEDPEVQFN WYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQF NSTFRVVSVL TVVHQDWLNG KEYKCKVSNKGLPASIEKTI SKTKGQPREP QVYTLPPSRE EMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSD IAVEWESNGQ PENNYKTTPP MLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSR WQQGNVFSCS VMHEALHNHY TQKSLSLSPG KDNA sequence of the heavy chain constant region of IgG2-S(341) antibody(SEQ ID NO: 31) GCTAGCACCAAGGGCCCATCGGTCTTCCCCCTGGCGCCCTGCTCCAGGAGCACCTCCGAGAGCACAGCGGCCCTGGGCTGCCTGGTCAAGGACTACTTCCCCGAACCGGTGACGGTGTCGTGGAACTCAGGCGCTCTGACCAGCGGCGTGCACACCTTCCCAGCTGTCCTACAGTCCTCAGGACTCTACTCCCTCAGCAGCGTGGTGACCGTGCCCTCCAGCAACTTCGGCACCCAGACCTACACCTGCAACGTAGATCACAAGCCCAGCAACACCAAGGTGGACAAGACAGTTGAGCGCAAATGTTGTGTCGAGTGCCCACCGTGCCCAGCACCACCTGTGGCAGGACCGTCAGTCTTCCTCTTCCCCCCAAAACCCAAGGACACCCTCATGATCTCCCGGACCCCTGAGGTCACGTGCGTGGTGGTGGACGTGAGCCACGAAGACCCCGAGGTCCAGTTCAACTGGTACGTGGACGGCGTGGAGGTGCATAATGCCAAGACAAAGCCACGGGAGGAGCAGTTCAACAGCACGTTCCGTGTGGTCAGCGTCCTCACCGTTGTGCACCAGGACTGGCTGAACGGCAAGGAGTACAAGTGCAAGGTCTCCAACAAAGGCCTCCCAGCCTCCATCGAGAAAACCATCTCCAAAACCAAAGGGCAGCCCCGAGAACCACAGGTGTACACCCTGCCCCCATCCCGGGAGGAGATGACCAAGAACCAGGTCAGCCTGACCTGCCTGGTCAAAGGCTTCTACCCCAGCGACATCGCCGTGGAGTGGGAGAGCAATGGGCAGCCGGAGAACAACTACAAGACCACACCTCCCATGCTGGACTCCGACGGCTCCTTCTTCCTCTACAGCAAGCTCACCGTGGACAAGAGCAGGTGGCAGCAGGGGAACGTCTTCTCATGCTCCGTGATGCATGAGGCTCTGCACAACCACTACACGCAGAAGAGCCTCTCCCTGT CTCCGGGTAAAAmino acid sequence of the heavy chain constantregion of IgG2-S(341) antibody (SEQ ID NO: 32)ASTKGPSVFPLAPCSRSTSESTAALGCLVKDYFPEPVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPAVLQSSGLYSLSSVVTVPSSNFGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVDKTVERKCCVECPPCPAPPVAGPSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRTPEVTCVVVDVSHEDPEVQFNWYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQFNSTFRVVSVLTVVHQDWLNGKEYKCKVSNKGLPASIEKTISKTKGQPREPQVYTLPPSREEMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSDIAVEWESNGQPENNYKTTPPMLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSRWQQGNVFSCSVMHEALHNHYTQKSLSLSPGKAmino acid sequence of IgG2 allotype 1 (SEQ ID NO: 33)ASTKG PSVFPLAPCS RSTSESTAAL GCLVKDYFPE PVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPA VLQSSGLYSL SSVVTVPSSN FGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVD KTVERKCCVE CPPCPAPPVA GPSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRT PEVTCVVVDV SHEDPEVQFN WYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQF NSTFRVVSVL TVVHQDWLNG KEYKCKVSNKGLPAPIEKTI SKTKGQPREP QVYTLPPSRE EMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSD IAVEWESNGQ PENNYKTTPP MLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSR WQQGNVFSCS VMHEALHNHY TQKSLSLSPG KAmino acid sequence of IgG2 allotype 2 (SEQ ID NO: 34)ASTKG PSVFPLAPCS RSTSESTAAL GCLVKDYFPE PVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPA VLQSSGLYSL SSVVTVTSSN FGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVD KTVERKCCVE CPPCPAPPVA GPSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRT PEVTCVVVDV SHEDPEVQFN WYVDGMEVHNAKTKPREEQF NSTFRVVSVL TVVHQDWLNG KEYKCKVSNKGLPAPIEKTI SKTKGQPREP QVYTLPPSRE EMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSD IAVEWESNGQ PENNYKTTPP MLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSR WQQGNVFSCS VMHEALHNHY TQKSLSLSPG KAmino acid sequence of IgG2 allotype 3 (SEQ ID NO: 35)ASTKG PSVFPLAPCS RSTSESTAAL GCLVKDYFPE PVTVSWNSGALTSGVHTFPA VLQSSGLYSL SSVVTVPSSS LGTQTYTCNVDHKPSNTKVD KTVERKCCVE CPPCPAPPVA GPSVFLFPPKPKDTLMISRT PEVTCVVVDV SHEDPEVQFN WYVDGVEVHNAKTKPREEQF NSTFRVVSVL TVVHQDWLNG KEYKCKVSNKGLPAPIEKTI SKTKGQPREP QVYTLPPSRE EMTKNQVSLTCLVKGFYPSD IAVEWESNGQ PENNYKTTPP MLDSDGSFFLYSKLTVDKSR WQQGNVFSCS VMHEALHNHY TQKSLSLSPG K

While the invention has been described in detail and with reference tospecific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skill in theart that various changes and modifications can be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof.

This application is based on U.S. provisional application filed on Apr.20, 2009 (U.S. provisional application No. 61/170,738), the entirecontents of which are incorporated hereinto by reference. All referencescited herein are incorporated in their entirety.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can provide a monoclonal antibody which comprisesa heavy chain constant region which is IgG2 wherein valine at position234, glutamine at position 237 and proline at position 331 are at leastsubstituted with alanine, alanine and serine, respectively (numbering isbased on the EU index of Kabat et al); has an agonist activity; andbinds to human CD40; DNA encoding the monoclonal antibody; a vectorcomprising the DNA; a transformant obtainable by introducing the vector;a method for producing the monoclonal antibody comprising using thetransformant; and a pharmaceutical composition and a therapeutic agentcomprising the monoclonal antibody.

Free Text of Sequence Listing

SEQ ID NO:1—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence of theheavy chain of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:2—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino Acid sequenceof the heavy chain of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:3—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence of theheavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:4—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acid sequenceof the heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:5—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofCDR1 of the heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:6—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acid sequenceof CDR1 of the heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:7—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofCDR2 of the heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:8—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acid sequenceof CDR2 of the heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:9—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofCDR3 of the heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:10—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of CDR3 of the heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341)antibodySEQ ID NO:11—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofthe light chain of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:12—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino Acidsequence of the light chain of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:13—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofthe light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:14—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:15—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofCDR1 of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:16—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of CDR1 of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341)antibodySEQ ID NO:17—Description of Artificial Sequence: DNA sequence of CDR2 ofthe light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:18—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of CDR2 of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341)antibodySEQ ID NO:19—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofCDR3 of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:20—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of CDR3 of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(341)antibodySEQ ID NO:21—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofthe heavy chain of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:22—Description of Artificial Sequence: Amino Acid sequence ofthe heavy chain of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:23—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofthe heavy chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:24—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:25—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofthe light chain of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:26—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino Acidsequence of the light chain of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:27—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofthe light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:28—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of the light chain variable region of IgG2-AAS(21.4.1) antibodySEQ ID NO:29—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—DNA sequence ofthe heavy chain constant region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:30—Description of Artificial Sequence: IgG2—Amino acidsequence of the heavy chain constant region of IgG2-AAS(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:31—Description of Artificial Sequence: DNA sequence of theheavy chain constant region of IgG2-S(341) antibodySEQ ID NO:32—Description of Artificial Sequence: Amino acid sequence ofthe heavy chain constant region of IgG2-S(341) antibody

1. A monoclonal antibody (a) which comprises a heavy chain constantregion which is IgG2 wherein valine at position 234, glutamine atposition 237 and proline at position 331 are at least substituted withalanine, alanine and serine, respectively (numbering is based on the EUindex of Kabat et al); has an agonist activity; and binds to human CD40;or (b) which comprises the heavy chain constant region represented bySEQ ID NO:30, has an agonist activity, and binds to human CD40. 2.(canceled)
 3. The monoclonal antibody according to claim 1, whichcomprises a heavy chain variable region comprising CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3represented by SEQ ID NOs:6, 8 and 10, respectively, and the light chainvariable region comprising CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3 represented by SEQ IDNOs:16, 18 and 20, respectively.
 4. The monoclonal antibody according toclaim 1, which comprises the heavy chain variable region represented bySEQ ID NO:4, and the light chain variable region represented by SEQ IDNO:14.
 5. The monoclonal antibody according to claim 1, which comprisesa heavy chain variable region of an antibody produced by a hybridomaKM341-1-19 (FERM BP-7759) and a light chain variable region of anantibody produced by a hybridoma KM341-1-19 (FERM BP-7759).
 6. Themonoclonal antibody according to claim 1, which competes with anantibody produced by a hybridoma KM341-1-19 (FERM BP-7759).
 7. Themonoclonal antibody according to claim 1, which binds to a part or theentirety of an epitope on human CD40 to which an antibody produced by ahybridoma KM341-1-19 (FERM BP-7759) binds.
 8. A DNA which encodes themonoclonal antibody according to claim
 1. 9. A recombinant vector whichcomprises the DNA according to claim
 8. 10. A transformant obtainable byintroducing the recombinant vector according to claim 9 into a hostcell.
 11. A process for producing the monoclonal antibody according toclaim 1, comprising culturing the transformant described in claim 10 ina medium to form and accumulate the monoclonal antibody described inclaim 1 in the culture and recovering the monoclonal antibody from theculture.
 12. The monoclonal antibody according to claim 1, whichcomprises a polypeptide wherein a secretion signal is removed from thepolypeptide represented by SEQ ID NO:2, and a polypeptide wherein asecretion signal is removed from the polypeptide represented by SEQ IDNO:12.
 13. A recombinant vector comprising a DNA encoding a polypeptidewherein a secretion signal is removed from the polypeptide representedby SEQ ID NO:2, and a DNA encoding a polypeptide wherein a secretionsignal is removed from the polypeptide represented by SEQ ID NO:12. 14.A transformant obtainable by introducing the recombinant vectoraccording to claim 13 into a host cell.
 15. A process for producing themonoclonal antibody according to claim 12, comprising culturing thetransformant described in claim 14 in a medium to form and accumulatethe monoclonal antibody described in claim 12 in the culture and therebyobtaining the monoclonal antibody from the culture.
 16. A pharmaceuticalcomposition comprising the monoclonal antibody according to claim 1 asan active ingredient and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. 17.(canceled)
 18. (canceled)
 19. (canceled)
 20. A method for treatingmalignant tumors or infections, comprising administration of an antibodyaccording to claim
 1. 21. A pharmaceutical composition comprising themonoclonal antibody according to claim 12 as an active ingredient and apharmaceutically acceptable carrier.